Ornament of no intact personality
by Cooper Writer Crafter
Summary: Kunimitsu Tezuka assumed that tennis is the only universe to live in. Unfortunately for him, he will be shaken down and stripped from his core when he starts to care for an older woman who puts him in a pedestal and destroys him at the same time...
1. Strangers with no dance to share

**X-X-X**

**(1) Strangers with no drinks on their hands have no dance to share**

**X-X-X**

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Who knew that looking for his missing racket would lead to chaos, a series at that, which would begin the moment he found it back?

He had to look for it. It was his favorite racket and he didn't have any other spare. He certainly wouldn't borrow anybody else's. A disappearing racket; this had happened before. The first time was upsetting, leaving his racket on the bench and finding it gone the next moment. Then what is upsetting turned eerie when he found the said racket back in his own house, beside the door, as if it had been laid there intentionally to deride him.

He just concluded it was one of the girls in his school who did it. They were whimsical when it comes to their gestures of so-called affection. All in day's work, perhaps, for a popular tennis athlete. Kunimitsu Tezuka had ignored the incident until today when it happened again, much to his unimaginable discomfort.

This isn't cute anymore, he thought—oh wait, scratch that—it was _never_ cute _at all._ As he walked along the corridors and opened the doors to empty classrooms, he wished the girls with their unwanted bento boxes would leave him alone. Twice a week of love letters from six different girls is tolerable. He can sometimes come up with a polite correspondence to decline their proclamation of "love." But this is not normal. Tezuka is starting to think this already crosses the lines of harassment. An hour passed. He is heading to the laboratory, his patience thin.

Maybe the racket is left by his doorstep again. This is ridiculous and infuriating! He must catch the thief in the act and report whoever she _or he _(you never know but he considered it) to Coach Ryuuzaki.

When he got home, the racket was there, waiting in mock reverence.

Tezuka was patient so he went on with his mundane tasks as the captain. He tried to use diversion to delay the confrontation for now since he doesn't have any suspect yet. He is sure to find one when the said responsible fiend makes a move. Tezuka has to put a stop to this stunt.

It was by the end of the week when he executed his plan. He kept this all to himself and never even bothered telling either Oishi or Fuji. So when the right time came, he was sure there would be no flaw in his plan. That day he left his racket as usual in the bench and waited for the thief to make a move. Tezuka doesn't want to chase this annoying little thing because he decided to take a step forward in advance. He went home earlier, slipping by his teammates unnoticed.

There at the doorstep of his house, sitting on the ground with the racket clutched to her and looking up as he approached her, was the girl. Tezuka watched her for a long moment. She was older than he expected, not even a schoolmate, and she was looking at him with something near cold self-assurance that Tezuka didn't like at all.

"If you wanted to meet my acquaintance, Tezuka-san, all you have to do is ask." She was plucking the strings of his racket, holding his gaze forcibly with calm ease that he couldn't look away. "No need for cunning ploys, sweetheart. You already have my attention."

Tezuka maintained his manners. "I don't need to know who you are since you obviously don't go to our school—"

"I'm from a college somewhere, thanks for asking."

"I did no such thing. Would you kindly hand me back my racket and leave?" Tezuka fixed his gaze on her intently, trying to intimidate her but she hardly flinched.

"You must be desperate to know who is screwing with your mind, eh?" She stood up slowly, swinging the racket playfully. "You don't respond well to challenges."

"I wouldn't like to talk to you anymore. Please hand back my racket and leave."

"Iku Agano, nice to meet you." She extended the racket to him and instead of taking it immediately, Tezuka still tried to figure out what's her game. He has to so he could take the necessary precautions to avoid her in the future.

"To clear things up, Tezuka-san, I'm not stalking you for a romantic intention."

Tezuka said nothing. He lowered his gaze to the racket.

She went on. "I'm stalking you out of fascination."

Tezuka finally took the racket and repeated his demand firmly. "Please leave now, Agano-sempai."

"I'll be seeing you around."

"Don't make this difficult for you. I could report this behavior—"

"I'm teaching in the freshmen class, you see. I'm a student teacher; you might have seen the announcement on your bulletin board." The Agano girl continued with a small smile forming on her lips. Her eyes lit as she saw some slight reaction on his face. Tezuka walked passed her to open the door.

"I will forget about this and you will stay away from me." Tezuka closed the door behind him. He doesn't have time for childish play. He doesn't have time to deal with somebody as creepy as she seems to be. Tezuka aimed only for his lifetime goal and nothing should distract him from that. This is just one those trivial matters.

All in day's work.

The weekends were relatively good. After finishing his assignments early, he stayed in the library with a book he couldn't wait to read. It was an Oscar Wilde novel and he was eager to understand literature like this since he believed reading can be very essential for mental growth and he needs to strengthen every aspect of his being. Everything is all about evolution. He will devote all the time of his life to become better and stronger.

"Wilde is rumored to be a homosexual but there is admittedly strength, a daunting centrifugal force even, in his prose."

_That voice._ Tezuka didn't turn to acknowledge it. He kept his eyes on the paragraphs and then he turned to the next page.

"His sexual orientation bears significance to his writing. The passionate exchange of language and adoration between the Dorian Gray and his painter Basil Hallward reeks of the scent of his hedonistic tendencies—"

"I don't need a lecture from you, sempai." Tezuka kept his tone polite and firm.

"Or maybe you're simply uncomfortable about certain discussions as a Japanese adolescent. It's endearing that young boys like you are so conventionally bound. Needless to say, if you want something intellectually stimulating without homoerotic implications, then may I advise you to refrain from reading that? Although Wilde is a favorite of mine, many critics called that novel as unclean, effeminate and contaminating."

Tezuka turned his head slightly to look at her but making sure he doesn't engage further inquiry from the older girl. "Would you be everywhere from now on?"

"It's really just a coincidence that we're both here. I'm always here. You just happened to drop by." She rolled her eyes and yawned.

"I see." But he didn't. He didn't want to understand. But as far as the ironic loathing goes, he's undoubtedly curious about her. The curiosity might be a product of a strange, suffocating mindset that Tezuka should never be a prey of. He tried to keep his gaze calm as he closed the book. "If I follow your advice, what kind of book could you recommend?"

"You should never ask someone's opinion if you're not going to abide, Tezuka-san." Agano remained standing while he was sitting, looking up at her and suddenly it felt wrong to be looked like that as if he was a child who is grasping to remain stubborn. Tezuka was anxious that she managed to make him feel like that in just a matter of minutes. So he offered her a chair. He wanted them to be in the same level despite she's older. It doesn't matter. She's trying to control him and he won't let that pass.

Agano took a seat in front of him and pressed her knees together. Then she placed her hands on her lap and smiled demurely at him. Something about her manners felt like an insult. She was acting, Tezuka could tell. Judging by how self-assured her manner of speaking is, she would not sit so still and submissively.

_What's her game?_

"I gather you like physical activities, that much is obvious. There's fluidity in sports that can also be found in literature, Tezuka-san. It's very refreshing to see you consider reading a book once in a while."

"I do read, sempai." Tezuka prevented that from sounding defensive. He adjusted his pose and tried not to slouch in his chair since she is holding her own poise quite effectively.

"You can read Wilde all you like, just be wary of the indicative themes that novel entails." Agano tossed him a look he didn't quite get but he nodded anyway.

Tezuka didn't want this conversation to last long. He didn't want to ask her about her job as a student teacher or if reading is her utmost hobby. That would be hypocritical; it would suggest that he cared.

But he did want to know this: "Agano-sempai, why do you keep taking my racket without my permission?"

Agano shifted her gaze to a shelf behind him. Then she answered. "I don't know, Tezuka-san, there is a variety of reasons: It is fun to watch you look around for something you can never find and that something is in my hands. It's also enjoyable to touch your racket and imagine how tight you clutch the grip and how you sway your body as you hit the ball with your fullest power. I can give you a list if you want."

"Sempai," Tezuka replied, eyes focused on her face. "I could report you."

"But you won't."

"Yes, I won't. It's because you're my senior and you don't strike me as someone who is capable of danger—at least, in my observation. But this isn't good for me, what you're doing. It's a disruption and I don't think I can approve of it, sempai. You might not see it because it's my side but I hope sincerely that you will." Tezuka softened his gaze and adjusted his glasses. He exhaled a sigh of relief.

Agano was grinning at him now. "There's something about you that disrupts me as well. I'm as uncomfortable as you are. I came here because I like to teach silently and be left alone to that duty but you also don't see my side whenever I watch you play tennis. It's a sensual experience, the way you play..." she trailed, her voice softer and eyes downcast.

Tezuka's cheeks boiled at that baffling compliment and it shook him. He focused on his lap instead and then looked up again after he composed himself.

"I'm sorry for being rude then. I think we should agree on something so we wouldn't bother each other anymore." He responded, meaning it. Agano looked at him and shook her head then she extended her hand.

Tezuka instinctively extended his hand as well, anticipating a hand shake to close a deal or form a truce but it wasn't what she intended as he figured out later. Agano pressed her hand on his, their palms meeting then she closed her eyes and muttered something. This wasn't a hand shake but he had no idea what it is either. Her hand was steady against his, her fingers wrapped around his fingers and her skin feels cold. He should be asking her what she's doing but all he could is watch.

Agano opened her eyes. "Sorry. It looked like I was praying or something. I wasn't. I just needed to touch you so I can know you're real."

Tezuka's eyes narrowed, not appreciating the weird remark and certainly not going to encourage many more of it. He removed his hand slowly and held her gaze, betraying nothing in his expression. "I don't mind if you watch me during practice. It would be incredulous to forbid that. I just wanted you not to do things like taking my racket away. I couldn't play without it, you see and if you are a fan of how I play then surely you couldn't keep doing this, sempai."

"But I can talk to you when I please, Tezuka-san?"

He paused. She's not crazy but she's not absolutely sane either. This is confusing but he tried to think this over before replying. He sees no potential harm. She's a faculty member and she's reasonable enough to talk to. But there's a feeling about her he couldn't fathom and it's starting to creep its way under his skin. It's not even curiosity anymore.

"I see no problem in that, sempai. But please do it in acceptable time. I'm occupied with many things as I know you are as well." Tezuka stood up and took the book from the table. He is still going to read this because once he planned on doing something, he wants to see it through and her comments about his choice of book sounded like a challenge and he couldn't back down. It's the competitive side he developed when he played tennis that held control over his guts at this moment.

She didn't stand up and for the first time, to his relief, she's looking up at him but she didn't seem to mind the way he towered above her like that. It's unfair, Tezuka thought, when he was so conscious about it himself.

_What's her game?_

"I will be going now, Agano-sempai. It was a pleasure to meet you." He wished he didn't mean it but the words didn't seem empty anymore.

Agano extended her hand again and watched Tezuka as he reluctantly extended his. She took it and shook it this time. When she withdrew at the same time that he did, Tezuka bowed his head down for respect neither of them were sure of if she earned it from him yet. Then she pointed at the book tucked under his arm and shrugged her shoulders.

"Upon reading that and you still remain in your barricades then I will be disappointed with Wilde. It would seem as if he couldn't bring you out to taste liberation for a change."

Tezuka didn't care to know why she would assume things about him. She's annoying but bearable. So he answered. "Then maybe you can give me another book to do the job, sempai. Yet I don't yield easily."

"If you're as much of a stoic as you present yourself to be," Agano responded, "Then why are we to assume that you're real?"

Then she grinned wider. He knew the rhetorical tone of her question and he turned his back to leave because Tezuka, for the first time in years, didn't answer back not because he didn't care about conversations and arguments but because he's speechless and a little anxious to get away from her and that dread in the air she displayed.

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	2. Camaraderie and the right fuel

**2) Camaraderie functions only with suitable fuel**

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So radish, green peppers, coconut oil, ketchup, egg yolk, three packs of M&Ms and a teaspoon of cough syrup don't mix well together, _big deal_, how does he suppose to know if he didn't try it and let his teammates serve as guinea pigs to sample the taste? At least he gathered very impressive data at the sight (and yeah, _in expense_) of his beloved friends bopping around, collapsing, their bodies thrashing on the ground like fish on land, gasping for air. There's a slight pleasure from these unpleasant results. But all sacrifices have to be made after all, if developments are to rise and progress is to be made. His energy drink, as he calls it, varies in selection, effect and appearance. And he's darn proud of his drinks, truth be held dear!

"It's very healthy," he keeps saying although half of the time it's difficult to keep a straight face while announcing such an unconvincing conjecture but it doesn't matter whatever fashion he delivers this because nobody in the tennis club believed him and would dare drink his poison. So he classified his abundant liquid experiments as '_penalty drinks_.' And because people, even great athletes, are prone to mistakes—well, let's just say stomach ache and that odd, burning sensation in the throat that's worse than nausea _are not the only things to worry about_ once you relish the _unsurpassed flavor_ of the Inui Juice.

As the name implies, it's the name of the creator, yup, that's him, Sadaharu Inui. He's a very intelligent tennis player who likes to keep everything in meticulous order, like data, and then process each encounter with a logical purpose. His teammates love him, he knows that, but they also fear him. And who wouldn't, what with all his dashing looks and his cold approach of manipulation? That alone can leave anybody tremble especially everybody who knew him in the Seigaku Tennis Club—

Oh, except Kunimitsu Tezuka who is, if not fearless, just indifferent.

On many occasions, the captain expressed his disdain on Inui drinks so he made sure the first time he accidentally drank it would be the last time ever. Inui would like to tease him for a while but he's not sure it's in his best welfare to provoke the calm but mysteriously terrifying façade of the captain so Inui didn't push it. He had observed, however, that each time the Inui Juice is a penalty drink served to an exercise or mock-game, Tezuka's determination to win increases off the charts! The guy doesn't want to drink it and Inui receives a kind of gratification he doesn't have a name of because of this. It almost feels like it's a dirty, dirty mind game between him and Tezuka.

So radish, green peppers, coconut oil, ketchup, egg yolk, three packs of M&Ms and a teaspoon of cough syrup mixed together—he calls this "Sugar Tangerine Power Inui Juice." And everybody reacted to it; from Oishi who is unconscious the moment he swallowed the drink, to Eiji and Kawamura with tears in their eyes as they cave in to the ground, to Kaidoh and Momo barely breathing, their lips pale and eyes wide and finally to Echizen whose arrogance isn't enough to keep his pride whole as he puked on the sink that he luckily reached in time.

There's Fuji, smiling bastard Fuji, who pretended to miss the shot so he could accept the drink with a smile and congratulate Inui for the flavor. Sneaky, sneaky bastard. And Inui thought he's indestructible there for a moment!

Tezuka, as predicted, didn't miss any shot so he didn't have to drink. Inui was tempted to switch their water jugs once more but he decided against it. He has enough data as it is.

"Pour you a drink, Tezuka?" Inui offered, expecting refutation.

"No." Tezuka watched some freshmen pull Oishi to the side and try to give him some fresh air. He crossed his arms and looked at Inui.

"Do you know about the student teacher from Shibuya who's teaching in Echizen's class?"

Inui raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Is something the matter, Tezuka?"

Tezuka said nothing for a while. Then he asked. "Can I trust you, Inui?"

Inui wasn't sure how to correctly answer that or if he needed to assure Tezuka that. But he nodded and closed his notebook. He watched Tezuka's impassive face and listened for what he has to say.

"How do you know that your feelings are amplified wrongly?"

"Can you be specific about this?" Inui was puzzled with the question and he looked around to see everybody was slightly recovering and busy trying to wash the taste off their mouths with water. He even saw Eiji pumping his mouth vigorously with a sandwich and Echizen laying on the ground, massaging his stomach, his face covered with his cap.

"I don't know if I can be any clearer," Tezuka talked slowly, weighing each word as he looked across the net. "I've been thinking about something lately. It is nothing to be worried about but I find myself to be worried anyway."

Inui tried to patch the vagueness of this discussion. The captain is rarely concerned about personal issues, at least not outwardly showing it. Tezuka shook his head.

"I'm a man of self-control, am I not, Inui?"

"Tezuka, the fact that you would ask me this is beyond me. But yes, you are. I haven't seen anybody so entitled to their selves with caution and shrewdness like you."

Tezuka nodded this time. "I think I ought to talk to someone whose opinion I respect on such matters and that person is you, Inui."

"This kind of flattery comes naturally because it's the truth." Inui can't help but grin and he pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. Tezuka looked back at him.

"Maybe we should discuss this later."

"Whatever you say, Tezuka."

That 'later' came quickly after they finished practice. Everybody has gone home in groups but Tezuka and Inui walked alone together to talk about what Tezuka wants to ask his opinion about. Inui tried to examine his own theories of whatever is bothering Tezuka but he knew he shouldn't ask questions because he can't be too sure about the outcomes. He allowed Tezuka to talk first.

In a stiff stance he is known for, Tezuka started to speak as he walked. "Her name is Iku Agano, the student teacher. She talked to me twice and we're acquainted agreeably. I don't know her more than just a passing acquaintance, of course. Lately I've been thinking more and more of her. What do you think this is?"

"Tezuka," Inui began, walking side by side with him. "If you're any other guy which I could presume you both are and not, then I can conclude that you like her. But since you're not really like any other guy then there must be something else that makes you think a lot about her. Do you know why?"

"Well, she's like a bad cold."

Inui smiled at that then he chuckled and glanced at Tezuka. "There's no cure for that from what I heard."

"My analogy amuses you?" Obviously, Tezuka didn't think so.

"Yeah," Inui shrugged his thoughts off. "But tell me something, Tezuka, she did make a very high impression, didn't she?"

"Yes." Tezuka pursed his lips then he sighed. "As far as impressions go, I guess."

"Did she—_excite_ you?"

Tezuka slowed his pace and held Inui's stare. Inui looked back with eyebrows raised. Then Tezuka answered. "I don't understand the question."

"Well, you have liked a girl before, right?"

"Not that I can recall or pay attention to."

"That sucks." But Inui believed him. Still, the captain, he can deduce, is careful at this very moment not to say anything that could compromise him. Inui knew Tezuka is this conceivably vigilant. But he does want to know what's bothering him. "This is going to be harder to figure out. If you want me to help, you need to sustain me with accurate information as possible."

"Can data be enough to solve this, Inui?" Tezuka sounded uninterested.

"Trial and error." Inui simply replied. And then he asked. "So you think about her. How do you think about her?"

Tezuka thought about his answers carefully, Inui could see. "Usually I just do whatever I do for school or tennis and she would just pop into my mind."

Inui was tempted to take his notebook but he could do that later. Right now he needs to focus on this interview. "And what kind of 'popping' is that?"

Tezuka raised his eyebrows and said. "About what I could say if she talks to me again or what we could talk about."

"You look forward talking to her?"

"No." Something in the captain's expression darkened. "No, I actually don't. But I think about what will happen and what I will do if I talk to her."

"What does she look like? Attractive?"

Tezuka shifted his gaze back to the road. The silence on his part lasted for six seconds, Inui computed. "She's what you can call pretty, I guess."

Inui was already jotting down notes mentally. He asked. "The conversations you have, can you tell me specifically three emotions you've felt while talking to her?"

"Do I have to—?" Tezuka paused. Inui could see the look on the captain's face, like he is outlining on the unfamiliar territory. And then he replied. "I was annoyed, curious and..."

"And—?"

Tezuka stopped walking. He met Inui's eyes with a steady gaze and held it evenly. Inui froze in his tracks and waited.

"'_Scared'_ isn't the right word. But that's the closest I can give you."

"You're 'scared' of her? Why?"

Tezuka examined his shoes as he answered. "She's older and she seemed wiser in many aspects. She took keen interest on me and I don't like that. But I don't hate it either. I'm not sure what the appropriate response may be. Look, I have been endlessly—followed…and pursued by girls in our school, Inui, and I learned how to deal with that. But this is something else and I can't seem to figure out how I can handle it."

"Did she express a romantic interest?"

"She said she's fascinated with me and it's not romantic." Tezuka looked up and narrowed his eyes. He just stood there, motionless.

"Tezuka."

He looked back at Inui.

"You want to talk to her again, don't you?"

"Yes." Tezuka looked at the ground once more. "I guess."

Inui never saw Tezuka so hesitant before. It provided him allure and embarrassment at the same time to be the only one to witness this. He tried to take things slower. "You think what you're feeling right now is improper?"

"Definitely but should I think it is? It's just that I don't know how to be myself around her. It's not a good feeling."

"Self-doubt? From Kunimitsu Tezuka?"

"Don't be sarcastic." Tezuka shot a glare at Inui and then he retrieved back to his usual blank phase. He adjusted the bag on his back and waited for Inui to say something else.

"So it's safe to assume for now that you're curious about this older girl?" Inui prompted.

"Do you think her age has something to do with this?"

"Hard to say for now. If you like, maybe I can watch the two of you interact."

Tezuka considered that. "It seems...unethical to do that, Inui."

"It might help."

Tezuka started walking again with Inui following behind.

"Inui?"

"Hm?"

"I don't like girls, at least not directly and generally. I don't have a problem with them. But they're an unavoidable prospect in school so I have to deal with them."

"No one is saying you have to, Tezuka. I know some of the girls who take a liking on you and not all of them are well-mannered and discreet." Inui knew he was wincing at the thought of the two girls he has met before who have a scrapbook of pictures of the captain and several disturbing personal items that Inui never dared to mention to Tezuka.

"Inui, try not to evaluate my welfare or state of mind in this sensitive matter." Tezuka kept walking forward without looking back at his companion.

"I'm not, Tezuka, rest assured I'm not. I'm honored that you came for my help though."

"Thank you for listening, Inui."

They reached Inui's house first. Tezuka exchanged goodbyes with him and then as Inui reached the door and opened it, Tezuka called him. Inui waited.

"What do you mean when you asked me if she 'excites' me?" Something visibly undeterminable was written on Tezuka's face. Inui wasn't sure it's a great idea to be involved in this. Tezuka always mystified him, now more than ever.

"Does she compel you? Does she make you feel...some sort of longing or thrill, you know, Tezuka?" Inui felt ridiculous explaining.

"No, not really."

Inui grinned, trying to adapt a look of sympathy. "I like girls and I have dated once or twice. You see, when you like someone of the opposite sex, Tezuka, you get this sensation of confusion and pleasure—both mentally and physically—in _there_...do I have _to point_ or something?"

Tezuka might have gotten the idea but he didn't confirm it. His face remained deadpan. He nodded another goodbye and turning his back, he walked away and disappeared. Inui gazed at the orange sky for a while as he sighed.

Well, well, he thought, there is something more difficult to digest than his Inui juice after all and it's staring him in the face and he doesn't know what to do about it.

At least for now.


	3. Selfknowledge incriminated

**3) Social casualties incriminate self-knowledge**

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It is now the most humiliating, twice the frustrating, match in the history of his undertakings. Barely responsive to emotions with no significant bearings, Tezuka has never foreseen being in a bottomless pit such as his current source of irritation is proving to be. Meanwhile he tried to redirect his attention to the vital means he knew are priorities but more than once his attention has been misled and incapacitation is compromising. Tezuka decided to go in a defense mode because he doesn't know how to attack this problem yet. Like all battles he knew he has to practice logic and action simultaneously. But needless to say, action is useless. Logic is useless. With this aggravating fiend of a woman, every effort is wasted.

_What is her game_?

"So you pursued Wilde after all."

Tezuka kept his gaze just for a while on the book he was reading before looking up again, composure impenetrable (or at least he tries to show that.) "Yes, sempai. Upon and despite your recommendation and warning, I still think the book is very remarkable."

"Haven't finished it, kouhai-san?" something about the way her tone sounded when she dropped that reference to his person made him frown slightly.

"Not yet but in three days I would."

The library was empty except for the librarian, four young girls chatting in a corner and the two of them. Agano occupied a seat in front of him and she was gazing at him like he was something to fuzz about. He recognized this kind of treatment from many people despite his lack of interest. He's very popular, apparently. But the older girl's stare differed from what he's used to. It has the same effect of intimidation but it's more subtle and more implicating.

Tezuka remembered what Inui advised him. He thought about this and he knew there's really nothing wrong or weird about talking to Agano. Her manner and that atmosphere she creates are definitely perplexing but hardly evil. That's it, Tezuka is just overreacting and second-guessing himself. But there's no safe bet he should let his guard down, he never had.

"Has anything been well for you lately, sempai?" Tezuka asked politely and meant it.

"This abrupt curiosity in my welfare doesn't concern me but yes, I've been getting closer with my students and I'm enjoying the tennis club of yours. You have excellent players in this school." She talked in a bored tone and she was slouching and her head was almost meeting the table. Her eyes remained on his though.

"I supposed you will be watching the practice this afternoon?"

Agano raised her head and stretched her arms up carelessly and then placed her hands on top of the table, eyes leaving him for a minute. "Yes. I made sure to finish whatever files I have to submit next week just so I can relax and have some private time."

Tezuka sighed. Good, this doesn't feel strange anymore. The creepy feeling was a fleeting moment after all and it shouldn't worry him. This is a student-teacher. She is a fan of the tennis club. Tezuka is Tezuka. He doesn't care because this doesn't make him feel odd anymore.

She looked back at him. "I could walk with you. Your practice starts by now, right, Tezuka-kouhai-san?"

"Yes." He closed the book and shoved it carefully inside his bag. He stood up and observed her, sitting there and yawning.

"So can I walk with you?"

"Do as you please, sempai." That was neither an invitation nor a rejection.

Agano walked a few steps behind him and she was quiet for a long time until they reached the court. She asked. "Ryoma-san is one of your players. I've never really seen him play in a match. I spot him practicing alone after our class but that's it. Will he play a match against somebody? I'd really like to see."

He stopped walking. He debated on facing her. This is weird again. She seemed different. She seemed too polite and casual and it bothered him. That doesn't just happen, does it? Considering his first impression about her, Tezuka wasn't ready to admit he was wrong about her aura. She is definitely something to watch out for.

_What's her game?_

"Tezuka-kouhai-san?" The honorific is redundant but he didn't comment on it.

"Ah, sempai. We have scheduled mock matches today."

She went beside him and her stare made him look back at her. Tezuka just watched her face and waited for her to say something else. But she didn't. Instead, she turned away and watched the players in the court.

"Tezuka?"

He saw Inui approaching them. He waited. Inui glanced at the older girl and bowed his head as a courtesy of greeting.

"Sadaharu-san is taking notes again? Have you finished your experimental liquid refreshments? Those are gross but what the hell." Agano beamed at him and Inui shrugged his shoulders, opened his notebook and showed her something. Then they began talking in soft voices.

Tezuka blinked. That Inui...he already made a move across the chess board.

_That Inui..._why did Tezuka even...?

"Tezuka-kouhai-san," Agano began as she turned her head back at him. "Did you ever try the Inui juice?"

"Once." Tezuka simply answered.

"Repulsive, right? I'm sure it serves as an aphrodisiac to Sadaharu-san—" she briefly glimpsed at Inui who just smirked. "—but it's not pleasant."

"It's good for the body." Inui remarked.

Agano raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Of course. I'm terribly sure."

There it was again, the atmosphere of dread. Tezuka clenched his jaw and crossed his arms tightly. He looked straight ahead and tried to ignore her. He should have done that from the beginning. Mistake number one.

"Tezuka-kouhai-san? You look pale."

He felt Inui writing something down on his notebook. That guy...

"I'm fine, sempai."

"Has the Wilde gotten into you now, kouhai-san?"

"It would be very nice if you don't use both 'kouhai' and 'san' in addressing me. One is enough, sempai."

"Well, I'm not going to stop calling you that. I stick to my choices. I'm sure you know what conviction is, Tezuka-kouhai-san."

He was struck by the casual iciness of that remark. He didn't look at her but he was definitely irritated.

"You can return the favor, Tezuka-kouhai-san."

So this is her game, huh, trying to force him to do something he would think twice to do. Instill self-doubt on him. This is beyond waste of time. Maybe he should walk away but he could feel Inui observing them and maybe gathering data and he needs a logic like that so he engaged more of this nonsense for the sake of that.

"I see," Tezuka answered. "_Agano-sempai-san_."

She suddenly walked in front of him because he refused to make eye contact but now he couldn't look away as she stood there, blocking his view.

"Now, that wasn't so hard. Thank you for the humility, Tezuka-kouhai-san."

Tezuka tried to stay firm and impassive as he responded. "It's a pleasure, Agano-sempai-san."

He can feel Inui scribbling down with his pen, muttering something. Whether he was gathering data on them or on whatever match is going on in the court, Tezuka didn't want to know. He wished Agano would go away now.

"Not yet it is." Agano went back on her place between Tezuka and Inui.

"Which is, sempai...san?" Tezuka tried not to grit his teeth when he said that.

"Your pleasure." Agano remarked. "We're not there yet, kouhai-san."

Tezuka didn't want to look at her, wouldn't give her the satisfaction that that remark specifically bothered him. He wondered what Inui thought about that. He would gladly find use with his interpretation. This is becoming confusing...not to mention he could obsess over this. He can't. He has to concentrate on tennis and the Nationals. And his left arm...still has a lot of healing and working to do.

"Tezuka, I have to go somewhere with Kaidoh. I'll be back." Inui announced and to Tezuka is sounded more like, _relax, she won't eat you, I will be coming back for you so just keep calm._ And he didn't like it. He nodded his head to dismiss Inui.

"Is Ryoma-san playing next after this?"

"No. Momoshiro and Kikumaru are up next."

"This can get really intense. You know I haven't been in a real tennis match before."

"We have the next upcoming match with Hyotei Gakuen."

"Oh? I should definitely be there! Will you be playing?"

Why are they talking like this now? This is just...Tezuka sighed and nodded.

"Great! Maybe you can show me some of those moves you were known for. I've only heard about them although I enjoyed the Zero Shiki Drop-Shot before."

Tezuka wasn't surprised. He wasn't sure he could trust everything she says especially the part when she said she hasn't been to a tennis match before. That sounded suspicious. And she's only been here for a month so how could she figure out about his techniques and other so-so about tennis if she's new to all of this? Maybe he should stop thinking and just see how he could trap her—

—_his Drop Shot?_

He looked at her now. "Agano-sempai, why do you know about my drop shot?" _I haven't used that in practices._

Agano didn't say anything. She was humming something. And then she sneezed and excused herself. Tezuka frowned deeply. He was about to ask again.

But she replied. "I try to keep track of activities of the object of my fascination, Kunimitsu-kun."

Tezuka gritted his teeth this time but he didn't respond. He kept his eyes back on the court. Declaring that aberration was really pissing him off and switching from 'kouhai-san' to addressing him with his first name and attaching 'kun' is just plain obnoxious. At least she addressed both Inui and Echizen with a 'san' even with first names. She's trespassing the barricades he built and he absolutely cannot let her go any further. He's going to end this now. No more mind games. Mistake number two.

"It's sad."

Tezuka looked at her. Her face looked lost for a while and she looked at him, her expression solemn.

"What do you mean?"

"That I waited this long to talk to you. Remember when I said I've never watched Ryoma-san play? Well, I have. I saw the two of you playing against each other on that abandoned tennis court below the train tracks weeks ago. I was instantly hooked up, you might say."

"So you lied."

"Give me the benefit of the doubt, Kunimitsu-kun."

Tezuka wanted to cut her off but he tried to listen patiently.

"You inspired Ryoma-san to work for something larger than himself, Kunimitsu-kun. You drove him to the edge while pushing your own limits. You gave him direction because you saw a piece of yourself in him and you want him to evolve. You're an exceptional individual, Kunimitsu Tezuka."

This sounded like flattery but it sounded very sincere as well that Tezuka forgot that he was supposed to tell her off. He just stared at her. Her eyes were closed just like the first time he met her in the library when she shook his hand which turns out something she did to know if he's real...

..._what's her game?_

Agano smiled and then she turned to him. Her eyes were a deep shade of black and they hold a lost expression, a daze disposition. He couldn't look away once he was sucked into them. And the atmosphere she created, the mix of dread and confusion, the reasons why he loathed her at first sight, why he felt ridiculed and challenged, why he felt excitement and aggravation and why, whatever this is, it stings...

...he understood now.

"I don't want to stay away from you, Kunimitsu Tezuka."

Her voice, her eyes and the way her hands clutched together as she looked at him, sorrowful and hopeful, Tezuka was scared of his own emotion abandoning him.

"Why?" he managed to ask silently as he just stared and got lost himself.

"Because," she began and paused. Then she tried again. "Because—because like Basil Hallward to his Dorian Gray, I found something I can't give up, something that's immaculate."

"Pardon?" He almost took a step back.

"I'm an artist too and you—_perfection_. I have to get that quality. You inspire me, Tezuka-san!" The look on her face was unrepressed joy and he was tempted to take a step back when he saw it.

The paradoxical revelation of it all is that he understood and didn't at the same time.

The uncomfortable intensity going back and forth between them overflowed and hit him hard and he didn't know what to call it or how to react to it, how to fend himself off from its greedy hands. Tezuka breathed in and out, still locked in her eyes. His head felt heavy but he didn't mind the buzz. His face was shaken from the usual passive façade but he didn't mind the exposure. She knew all of this, didn't she? No need to question her. It's not like he can do anything to get away. Her confession is a threat to his welfare but it's not as dangerous or as inviting as it occurred to him now. There was nothing that could have prepared him for this. No, this is one of those brutal, inevitable things you can't control. To his deepest frustration, he couldn't control this.

"Tezuka-kouhai-san?" she was back to normal somehow as if that massive force didn't affect her like it did him. She was looking at him, puzzled. "I hope I didn't shock you much. I don't want you to get the wrong idea, is all."

Tezuka regained his composure as quickly as he could. He can do this. Don't panic. "You made yourself clear, Agano-sempai-san."

Agano nodded and looked back at the court. "Oh! Ryoma-san's turn!"

"Excuse me, I have to get something." He has to get back his poise. Tezuka didn't wait for her response and immediately headed to the locker room.

He sat on the bench and clenched his fists on his lap. He closed his eyes. He wondered if maybe Inui was hiding and he saw all of that and he wondered what insights could he give to enlighten his body language just now. He didn't know it himself. It wasn't him. It couldn't be him. Kunimitsu Tezuka isn't that pathetic.

That girl...she said she wasn't expressing romantic interest in him and whatever her motive is it caught his attention. The worst matter is he has no idea what the motive is and why it was successful in catching him off-guard. Shit, he let his guard down, didn't he? Did she see it?

This isn't him. That wasn't him. This is bad.

He replayed the conversation with Inui, if that girl excites him. Was it that? No, it couldn't be. He refuses to acknowledge a stupid thing has occurred to him.

But he felt it. Right _there_...in the section Inui requested to point once. Standing there in front of Iku Agano, he felt something propelling upwards and snaking its way up to his chest and throat, spurting a bitter, acidic taste he could almost compare when he drank the Inui Juice, even _worse_. Then from his mouth, it slides to his arms and fingers and toes. That horrible, _icky_ feeling, Tezuka guessed, like nausea but it's not.

In his gut. The _loins_, as Wilde described in one chapter he couldn't remember. It's supposed to disgust him and it did but more than anything...yes, it excited him. Is this what Dorian Gray felt when he was hailed for his aptness?

Tezuka opened his eyes wide and rested the back of his head on the wall. Could it be...is this what his grandfather once discussed about...when he started to be on that stage of adolescence that he never considered would happen to him...because he is Kunimitsu Tezuka. But bam, here it is. Mistake number three.

Hormones? _Lust_? God forbid, just the spoken word of it! He's not feeling well.

This isn't him. No. It couldn't be him.

--

--

--

--

Iku Agano was still there even after Echizen's match was finished. Tezuka saw her talking to Echizen and the boy was telling her something. They both looked pleased. Well, she is his teacher in whatever subject she's teaching. Then Echizen left and started walking off with Momoshiro. Tezuka looked for Inui but couldn't find him.

"Tezuka-kouhai-san!" Agano rushed towards him. Tezuka stood still just as he practiced back inside the locker room. His posture was perfect, giving the vibe of detachment, his arms crossed on his chest, his eyes sharp and unreadable. This is his normal pose before she almost penetrated to it. Almost.

This isn't going to end in her terms, Tezuka will make sure of that.

"So how about walking me to my apartment? It's not far from here. It's dark and I don't think a lady should be walking alone if that is the case. I'd ask for Sadaharu-san because his house is close to where I live. He's not here. And I know your house is close to where I live as well, just a few blocks away. So will you walk me?"

"Yes." Tezuka responded after she finished. She looked surprised. But then she smiled. After getting their things, they started walking.

"This is a highly interesting development. It seems like you're contented around me. Or am I making fast assumptions? You're still grim."

Tezuka allowed her to talk, let her wonder. He's not going to give her the chance to attack him with her cleverness anymore.

"I think I'm going to bring a sketch pad in the Hyotei match you told me about so as I observe you play in your usual fluid grace, I can proceed to draw at the same time." Agano was looking at him as she was beside him but he didn't look back.

Let her keep talking.

"And by the way, I don't know where this match is going to unfold so will you accompany me? Or should I ask Sadaharu-san in your stead?"

Tezuka made a turn to the right and she followed.

"Kunimitsu-kun?"

Agano withdrew from her steps and Tezuka stopped just a yard away from her, his back completely poised and still.

"I must say this is becoming a bit eerie, the way you seem to be acting right at this instant, Kunimitsu-kun." Agano remarked, her tone impatient. "Perhaps I could walk alone from here. I'd rather go by myself if this behavior of yours is likely to worsen."

She started walking ahead and Tezuka grabbed her wrist and she looked back.

"Tezu—" she froze.

"The match would be two weeks from now, sempai, and I guarantee to show you my best game. Take my word for it."

Agano said nothing. Tezuka didn't let go of her.

"And if you don't like to stay away from me then I won't force you to."

He loosened his grip. He looked evenly into her eyes. "I'm going to explain this once and for all so you don't get the wrong idea."

Agano faced him now, listening.

Tezuka adjusted his eyeglasses with his other hand and then he spoke, "I despise you for reasons unknown to me, sempai-san. I hate you because quite frankly, there is no appropriate feeling that suits more but that. I could tolerate you for as long as I can but please be reassured that whatever future kindness coming from me you might misunderstand is meaningless."

Agano's lips formed into a smirk that made his stomach itch.

He continued. "You should remember _this_ and nothing else. That is I _hate_ you and meeting you is a tragic interference I will compensate for."

He let her go completely. His hand wanted to stay involuntarily around her wrist and maybe twist it around...just press her _until she bends_. Tezuka welcomed the urge but remained wary of it nevertheless.

"I say this, Kunimitsu Tezuka," Agano answered. "I'm bound to hold a fascination for you simply because you're a stoic and I feel it is a duty of mine to _make you_ _squirm_."

She crossed her arms but not in a defiant way. Agano held his stare and then she chuckled. She rubbed the top of her head and added, "If you hate me, you're finally familiar with this wicked sense of _longing_, are you not?"

His thoughts raced madly and he tried to sort them out as he watched the glint in her eyes deepening and pulling him but he would make sure submitting to it would be more difficult to her than it is with him.

"I don't know what you speak of but let's assume that I do." What was that in his tone just now that made him shiver? Did she catch that? Was that him welcoming seduction and thrusting it back at her?

"You're becoming a man, Tezuka." Agano looked at his face and then down on his entire torso, taking her time and Tezuka didn't budge, insolently standing still.

He expected this. They're finally making sense of the chaos.

"I hope to see you tomorrow." Tezuka slightly turned to his side to walk away. "Have a good evening, Agano."

He left there because she already made it clear that she will head home alone and he went back to his place in the world and prepared himself for the annihilation he knew will come but she's not the only one who has the big guns.

--

--

--

--

As soon as he got home, Tezuka stayed inside the bathroom for an hour and a half, contemplating while under the warm water in the bathtub. He ascended minutes after and breathed in and out. He ran his fingers through his damp hair as his other hand involuntarily caressed his stomach as it lowered down in the region he once was curious of playing with. He accidentally eavesdropped on his classmates talking about this habit they do when they lock themselves in their rooms. At first Tezuka barely understood but he figured it out later.

Appalled but slightly inquiring of how it must feel like to touch oneself like that, Tezuka decided to distract himself by helping to wash the dishes. His hands have to stay away from that prohibited area or he might just...

This time he didn't care. He's angry, embarrassed and aroused. The emotions soared inside him as he increased the speed of his hand moving while wrapped around his person. This is just like pumping a water gun...or maybe like cleaning the windshield wiper of his father's car. He shouldn't have made that comparison while doing _this_. Tezuka closed his eyes and tried not to imagine her face, tried not to picture that she-evil of a smile she had plastered everytime she reads through him.

What else could it be if not loathing?

No Iku Agano. Think of anything. Algebra. Christmas. Anything. This isn't supposed to feel good but the pleasure was irrevocably knee-weakening.

Dammit, Wilde was not a very wholesome book to read after all.

He released when the muscles of his arm felt droopy and he looked down and saw that he made a mess, the main achievement for that exercise. Tiny white beads appeared above the water, like grease unscrambling. Tezuka sighed and stood up, and reached for a towel. He knew boys do it once in a while. He's not an idiot but he did feel like a pervert.

He dried himself as he drained the water to wash away the scene of the crime because it's a filthy thing he just did, spreading that sticky, half-liquid, half-mucus-looking white mess. Tezuka shivered. Why is his bundle of nerves giving up on him all of a sudden? Tennis trained him for worst conditions. So what the hell, really?

He put on his boxers and sat on the bed as he dialed Fuji's number. He hasn't planned yet what to tell Inui so he can't call him. Fuji, he knew, would never judge him. He actually thought of Oishi first but he realized this is something he can't freely discuss with a guy like Oishi. Fuji is the next best thing.

Listen to him, with his lame options to avoid further perdition.

"Is there something you want, Tezuka?" Fuji's voice sounded accommodating as always. For a moment, Tezuka hesitated.

But only for a moment.

He put on his glasses back and glared at himself on the mirror in front of him.

"I know it's almost late but can you meet me at the park? I need to ask you something very important."

--

--

--

--

He watched Fuji stare at the book cover with a complacent smiling face and then he turned the book to read the summary. Fuji looked at Tezuka and inquired. "I haven't read this but does this bear significance to the stress you're talking about?"

Tezuka frowned. It took a lot to admit to Fuji or anybody else that he's stressed. But he brought the book because he felt like it could give a clear perspective but seeing that he couldn't express what he's problem is then this book might as well been a death sentence. Not only is he confronted with an unpleasant conjuncture that maybe he shouldn't have read the darn book as that exacerbating woman warned him about but he is also risking something here: his sense of security. And he has no idea if he's talking to the right people. He could've made a mistake talking to Inui. Should he tell his grandfather? How could he burden him this? And Fuji seems a good option but Tezuka didn't like...hated to admit that he couldn't handle this all by himself.

He must have been silent for a while because Fuji peered at him worriedly and asked what's on his mind. Tezuka looked off and answered. "I don't know. Just really tired, I guess."

"I'm worried about you, Tezuka. You're more taciturn."

"I could get that way." Tezuka remarked, shrugging off the tone of concern from Fuji.

"Shall we do this indirectly? Would you rather prefer to communicate symbolically, beat around the bush and see if I can figure it out?" Fuji smiled wider.

That would have been either a joke or sarcasm but Tezuka didn't waste time figuring it out. He has to set this straight before it defeats him.

"Lately things were dragging me to many directions. The Intra-school ranking tournament is right around. I've prepared myself but I can't seem to wave off distractions like I used to."

Fuji sighed. "Well, are these distractions really big?"

"There's only one."

"Is this distraction big?"

"I can't say, really."

"How big is this distraction?"

"I don't know. What are you—"

"How small is this distraction then?" Fuji cut him off.

Tezuka slightly glared back at him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm figuring what you're trying to say. When it comes to asking for advice which you rarely do, you can get vague and that's what you are now. We could keep it short but that would take you to go specifically on your problem which you don't want to do—"

"It's a girl!" Tezuka paused. Oops, he snapped. Great.

Fuji chuckled good-humoredly. "I see."

"What exactly?"

"I don't know what I'm looking at but I see it."

"Now who's being vague?"

Fuji sat closer to him on the bench and placed his hand on top of Tezuka's. God, he hates it when he does that. Tezuka ignored it and listened to what he has to say.

"Are you going to tell me who she is?"

"No."

"Can you tell me if you're crushing on her?"

Tezuka's jaw clenched a little and then he managed a curt "No."

"How is she distracting you then? Infatuation is the only possibility."

"It's not like that." _It can't be like that. I'd rather drink Inui's—no, wait. I'd rather chew glass._

Fuji pouted and squeezed Tezuka's hand. It would seem like the purpose is to comfort him but it only made Tezuka's nerves jump. He didn't take his hand off anyway because he doesn't want to seem like this physical contact is rattling him.

"I can't tell you what to do, Tezuka. Actually I don't know what kind of advice you want me to give you." Fuji looked at his face carefully. Tezuka looked back.

_Tell me I'm not going crazy._ "Read the book and tell me what you think about it."

Fuji chuckled again. "Well, that's very kind of you."

"It's a good book."

"But it somehow affected you the wrong way?" Fuji asked.

Tezuka stood up and slid his hand way unnoticed from Fuji's grasp. "Maybe."

"Vague, vague, vague." Fuji shook his head as he chuckled louder. "You're one inscrutable individual, Tezuka. You don't smile often either."

"I smile." Tezuka responded as he started to walk and Fuji followed him.

"Oh? Don't you need to grow new muscles for that? I heard they don't grow overnight."

"You would know this because yours exercise daily and don't even take a rest." Tezuka crossed his arms and continued to walk ahead, hearing Fuji laugh this time.

"Mine should take yours sometime to the gym then."

"You're a weird person, Fuji." Tezuka shook his head and relaxed a little. His left arm is tingling slightly but his joints will be fine by tomorrow.

"Says the book reader." Fuji raised the Wilde material in view and Tezuka scoffed silently and walked faster.

Everything we know now can change in an instant, his grandfather told him.

_Everything_. In an instant.

/--/--/--/--/--/--/--/

**FOOTNOTES** (_To clarify perspectives_)

--The main focus of this story is Kunimitsu Tezuka and Sadaharu Inui comes second. The plot will explore how they interact with the opposite sex as teenagers who, just like everybody else, will have to deal with adolescent, libidinal problems that might affect their devotion to tennis. The purpose of my OC Iku Agano is to both explore and exploit that situation.

--The chapters will alternate between POVs of Tezuka and Inui as you may have noticed. Iku Agano will have no POV whatsoever of her own and it's up to the two meganes to interpret her character and yes, as the story progresses, they will have _different_ recognitions of her. So you can regard Agano as just a participant. But she will be a huge part of the story, by context but it will remain Tezuka and Inui's worlds and she is the 'female substance' of the interaction.

--Set before Tezuka's big match with Atobe when he completely injured his arm. I find myself breathless when I watched that match so I would like to explore the psychology behind Tezuka's current state of mind at that time if we add Iku Agano to the mix. The OC, as I have written in the summary, will damage him in ways you just have to watch out for.

--Prevalent sexual tension that I will keep sizzling, a question of one's sexual preference will get intense and symbolic innuendoes will be thrown in and I hope you will be entertained (and disturbed) by them. There's a reason I chose Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray" and many other literary books I will refer to us we move along. As for question of a romantic subplot or a love triangle, I will think about it.

--My prose is not perfectly elegant since I'm a struggling writer finding her deepest core but this story has good moments of creativity. This is an experimental literature outside my Death Note fandom.

Thank you very much for reading.


	4. Basis of Triumph from Failure

_A/N: To clarify things, let me explain that this Inui narrative is set before Tezuka's in the last chapter. It describes how Inui met Iku Agano and therefore how he became already acquainted with her without Tezuka's knowledge. And, uh, be warned about some graphic material on the way._

**XXX**

**4) The Basis of Triumph starts from failure**

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Inui likes the supermarket. In fact he loves shopping for groceries so much that he does it twice a week. He usually hangs out in the vegetable and fruits section. He takes serious precaution when it comes to buying the right amount and quality of ingredients for his famed Inui juice. It's almost the end of the week and after yesterday's conversation with Tezuka, he couldn't stop his growing curiosity for that student teacher Iku Agano. Inui was certain, about eighty-two percent, that she's something else worth paying attention to since she affected Tezuka and nothing affects the captain that crucially.

With a cell phone on hand, he went to the cashier to gather his groceries so he could go home. He spoke to Kaidoh on the line. "Meet me in the park this afternoon. I have added extra activities in your exercise plan."

He went straight home to drop off the groceries. His mind is still occupied about Tezuka and the strange, even inconsistent, way he acted. He didn't fidget, no, nothing like that. Even back then when they were still in middle school, Tezuka has this air of absolute discipline. He wouldn't slouch, he wouldn't smile. He would stand straight, sometimes crossing his arms. When he sits inside the classroom, he remained still and poised and even professional and it would somewhat be comical if not only that Tezuka doesn't care to posses even an ounce of sense of humor so making fun of him is out of the question. He spoke firmly and didn't decorate his words. He greeted elders properly and kept chivalry around girls who would approach him. Even when he became friends with Oishi and Fuji, he kept a distance that nobody else cared to penetrate. Inui was fascinated with him, not only in his style of tennis, but also about his very person. He couldn't believe that something so mechanical and solemn could be alive, breathing and living.

Inui has his notebook under his arm as he walked to the park to meet Kaidoh. He couldn't stop thinking about Tezuka and his habits which are concise and limited to school and tennis. And now from out of nowhere Tezuka had asked him something so intimate and _normal_, something Inui, for the life of him, couldn't decipher. It's because of that woman Agano. He needed this. He needed the data.

He spotted Kaidoh and was about to wave when he saw his lowerclassman talking to a woman carrying a white cat. Inui cocked his head to the side. He recognized that cat. It was Echizen's. He caught Kaidoh playing with it more than once, much to the younger man's embarrassment. Inui walked forward to meet them.

"Kaidoh?"

"Ah, sempai!" Kaidoh began, startled, already flustered from his jogging and now being caught-off-guard. "I didn't know you're here."

"I told you I was coming," Inui said blankly as he glanced at the woman and then he tapped the cat's head. "He's been fed well."

"Ryoma-san said I could take him around. Karupin gets really lonely." The woman remarked, smiling at Inui.

"Iku Agano-san?" Inui asked, knowing he was right. This is what they call serendipity. He noticed Kaidoh blinking in confusion but Inui was too absorbed with the woman before him. She smiled again.

"You're both from the tennis club in Seishun, right?"

"That is correct." Inui bowed his head. "Sadaharu Inui. Pleased to meet you. This is my kouhai Kaoru Kaidoh."

"Hai!" Kaidoh bowed to his waist. "Pleased to meet you!"

Agano laughed as Kaidoh raised himself to a very erect and steady position, his cheeks still scarlet. Inui smirked and handed him his notebook. "I wrote your activities on the fourth page. Would you kindly get us something to drink, Kaidoh?"

"Hai, sempai!" Kaidoh bowed again, voice booming with tension and awkwardness. "Does Agano-sensei want something to drink as well?"

"Thank you, Kaoru-san. I'm fine with whatever is available."

"Hai!" And Kaidoh was gone.

"He's a cute kid." Agano remarked as she turned her attention back to Inui who couldn't help but stare and observe her.

"Do you want to pet him, Sadaharu-san?" Agano offered the cat that purred tenderly and nuzzled Inui's hand when he reached for it.

"That's fine." Inui shook his head and asked. "You're one of Echizen's substitute teachers, am I correct?"

"Yes. Echizen has a lovely home. I've been invited once by his father." Agano said as she cradled Karupin almost lovingly and she hummed to it. Inui watched quietly.

And then he asked. "Will you be eating alone tonight, Agano-sensei?"

She peered at him, eyes narrowing. "Well, 'sempai' is rather fine, Sadaharu-san. And why do you ask?"

"I'm cooking dinner. Kaidoh will come as well. My parents are not home right now. I could use some company. Would sempai mind?"

He knew that his straight-forwardness compelled her. He saw the brightness in her eyes that says intelligence, and not the ordinary young-woman-in-her-twenties kind of intelligence either; something else that must have caught Tezuka and now perplexed Inui. This is good data.

Kaidoh returned, jogging his way towards them with three bottled water in his hands. He stopped abruptly and handed Agano with one. "I hope this is fine, sensei."

"Kaidoh, don't be so worked up over nothing." Inui commented as he took his own drink. "You can run an extra thirty laps before dinner at my place."

Kaidoh colored deeper, his perspiration increasing. "What do you mean, sempai?"

"I'm cooking dinner. Agano-sempai will come as well. My parents are not home right now. I could use some company. Would you mind, Kaidoh?" Inui cited impassively, staring at the younger man with amused patience.

"No, no, sempai." Kaidoh nodded once. "Thank you for the offer."

The three of them headed to his house as soon as Kaidoh finished his given laps. Inui asked them to wait at the living room and make themselves comfortable. He left to the kitchen to prepare. He took out the marinated beef he soaked earlier with green peas and turned on the stove. He called them to the dinner table after twenty minutes. Inui greeted them with his dish. He noticed Kaidoh was still too stiff as he took a seat beside Agano. Inui handed them rice in silence.

Setting himself down on the chair opposite the two of them, Inui has a good angle of watching Agano. He waited for her to chew her food, compliment him to which he thanked her graciously and then he glanced slightly at Kaidoh, face still in perpetual frown as he ate voraciously.

"Is Karupin fine with milk?" Inui addressed both Agano and the cat but he suddenly turned to Kaidoh. "What do you think?"

Kaidoh almost choked. He turned away, blushing. "Why are you asking me, sempai?"

Inui knelt down to the floor, still eyeing Kaidoh as he poured milk for Karupin. He stood up and took a seat, offering Kaidoh another cup of rice.

"Is Sadaharu-san a regular of the tennis club?" Agano asked.

Inui took a bite and chewed slowly before he replied. "I lost that position to Echizen. But I'm getting it back. Are you a fan of the sport, Agano-sempai? Perhaps you play as well?"

That would be possible. If Tezuka knew this and maybe she is good, then perhaps it's why he was immediately drawn to her. But Agano shook her head and said she prefers indoor activities like reading and painting.

"What kind of books do you read, sempai?"

"Almost anything that suits my whim." Agano responded. "May I have some water, Sadaharu-san?"

Inui stood up and took a pitcher from the fridge. He poured their glasses with it. Kaidoh took his glass to drink as did Agano. Inui waited.

As he expected, Kaidoh spit out the new flavor of Inui juice and started to head outside to get some fresh air but Inui called out. "The bathroom is on the right side of the living room, Kaidoh."

He looked back at Agano who was wiping her mouth with her handkerchief. She stared at the contents of her glass. "What is this?"

"I made it. Does it please you, sempai?"

"If I gulped down cat piss, I'm sure it would taste like this, no offense." She wasn't addressing Inui, she was addressing Karupin on the floor. Inui smirked.

"Perhaps water?"

"That would be appropriate, yes." Agano looked outside the window on her left. "Is Kaoru-san okay?"

"His stomach is almost getting used to the Inui juice."

"_Inui juice_? You call it that?" Agano crinkled her nose. "You're sick in the head, aren't you, Sadaharu-san?"

Inui stopped in front of her, a pitcher of water in hand, gazing at her, weighing his thoughts. And then he replied as he poured down the water in another glass. "I've been aware of the danger lurking inside me for a long time, Agano-sempai."

Agano looked up at him but he didn't look at her. He placed down the pitcher carefully on the table. He took a seat and started eating. Agano was quietly watching him this time. He waited.

"A conservative peril you are, Sadaharu Inui-san." Inui could tell she crossed her legs from under the table. She seemed to be the kind of woman who likes doing that a lot. Inui said nothing and listened.

"Have you been talking to Tezuka-san about me?"

Inui took his water and finished it, gulping down, taking his precious time. He placed the glass down and pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I will be perfectly honest with you, Agano-sempai." Inui looked at her steadily. "I can't say Tezuka and I are friends but we are comrades nonetheless. He's been quite taken with you, if I may add and he doesn't know about it yet. Sooner of later he will go down that path and he will realize it. For the time being, allow me to accompany you around school grounds if my schedule will permit me so."

"And what do you hope to gain?"

"I'm interested in a lot of things." Inui answered. "This is just one of those. A whim, if we can call it that."

"Well, I'm curious."

"Karupin knows something about curiosity." Inui took the cat and it obeyed, sitting on his lap.

"It doesn't kill a cat, I'm sure."

"But would it kill us, Agano-sempai?" Inui challenged. She grinned.

"If the risk of that happening isn't high, I doubt we would ever engage."

--

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--

One thing that struck Inui about girls is how they do things that make guys go running on directions, both in fear and anticipation. When he was eleven, Inui brought a flower pot to school to show to a girl named Sadari. He liked her because their names could be easily written using the same letters and this interested him greatly. It was the only reason he had a crush on her. Sadari liked him too and they started eating lunch together in the cafeteria. She's having trouble with her math and he always helped her. So Inui gave her a flower pot. He said he already planted the seed on the soil and she could water it and watch it grow. Sadari was overjoyed. She called it the 'symbol of their blossoming love.' Inui agreed because he is amused with how she was this easy to please. Sadari asked Inui to be her boyfriend and Inui agreed again. Two weeks passed and the seed sprouted slowly and the two of them would watch it in a corner by the end of the day. The corner was near the tennis court and sometimes Inui would get distracted and would watch older students play. He sometimes forgets Sadari whenever he watches tennis.

A month after he saw Kunimitsu Tezuka playing. They were about the same age and the boy was brilliant, too good even. Inui stopped seeing Sadari and stopped bothering about the flower pot. Tennis and Tezuka were the only things that occupy him lately. It's all he started to care about.

He decided to practice tennis as well. He wasn't expecting to be really good at it but he wanted to be at least competent enough to play a match against that Tezuka kid.

He joined the tennis club successfully and one day Sadari approached him and showed him the flower pot he has given her almost many months ago. He even forgot who she was for a while (he's been practicing so much) and she might have seen that because she threw the pot on the floor between them. Inui was shocked and grabbed her arm when she was about to run away. Then something happened. Things got out of control. The moment he grabbed her, she turned to him and her body leaned against his and she sobbed. And then he held her tightly and she stared at his face and kissed him. Inui froze, unable to comprehend and respond. When he did start comprehending, his hands moved to her chest and he felt her lumps and he didn't know what to make of that. But he kept kneading them anyway as her mouth enveloped around his, lips wet and trembling.

He will be twelve a week after that and he already made out with a girl and got to what they call the 'second base.' Whoopee-doo.

He kept getting good at tennis and he kept seeing Sadari. He wrote their names together one time to show her what he means when he said that they could easily have the same names, just an addition of letters here and there. But Sadari didn't care. They were on the rooftop and she said she wanted Inui to touch her breasts again. So he did and they kissed too. Sadari sat on his lap. She showed him her pink bra and asked him what he thought about it. He said he thinks the color suits her. She said no, she meant her breasts. Inui shrugged his shoulders and cupped both of her breasts, thinking deeply. He said they could get bigger and they will. Sadari said she likes how gentle his hands are. She asked Inui if breasts can get bigger if you massage them. Inui suggested they could give it a try. So every lunch time they ate fast and went to the rooftop just so they could see if her breasts would get bigger if Inui fondles them daily.

One afternoon on the rooftop, Sadari asked him if his wee-wee could get bigger if she fondles it. Inui was scared and excited to where the next level will take him so he said he didn't know. Sadari told him that she heard from one of her sister's friends that when a girl puts the boy's wee-wee on her mouth, it gets bigger. She asked if they could try that. Inui wasn't confident about this theory but he was slightly curious what it would like if Sadari puts his penis on her mouth. So he agreed. He stood up, leaning on the wall as Sadari took him inside her mouth. Nothing unusual happened, except that his length hardened and Sadari giggled. Inui was feeling weak but pleased so he asked Sadari not to take her mouth off and to move a little. She asked how while his length was still on her mouth and she was getting her spit on it. Inui said he didn't know. So they stopped there.

A year after that Sadari had to leave and she told Inui that she finally knows what they did that afternoon on the rooftop. She said it's called a 'blow job' because it's putting his wee-wee like gum on her mouth and blowing on it. She said she could show Inui. Inui allowed her to do that blow job thing on him and it was fantastic. Sadari left three days after.

--

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--

Kaidoh had Karupin on his arms and he was obviously fond of it but he tried not to show it to Inui so he kept his composure serious but it came off only humorous because he was definitely suppressing a grin as Karupin purred on his chest.

"I can get you a kitten, Kaidoh, all you need to do is ask me." Inui teased.

Kaidoh scoffed and walked faster, leaving Inui with Agano.

"Is he always this rigid, Sadaharu-san?" Agano asked silently.

Inui remarked. "He's not always showing it but he's a good kid."

"All you guys are."

"Tezuka is one too, eh, sempai?"

Agano glanced at him and she sighed. "I didn't know he's a private person. It must have been the fright of the century when I have borrowed his racket without permission. Dear me."

Inui looked at her, blinking. "Racket?"

"I took it twice and left it on his doorstep so he could find it there everytime he gets home from school."

"He must have felt being mocked."

"Perhaps it was my intention but I'm not quite sure."

"It's awfully endearing of you."

Agano blew her bangs, sticking her lower lip. "I was in a whimsical mood, one might say. But surprisingly he wasn't the slightest angry. He was puzzled. He was polite as can be. He was reading Wilde."

"Wilde? Oscar Wilde?"

"You've read it?"

"The Dorian something?"

Agano corrected him. "_The Picture of Dorian Gray._"

"Is it a very commendable book?"

"One might say." Agano slowed her steps.

Inui gazed straight ahead and absorbed that information. A book, eh? He smirked and asked Kaidoh to go right ahead and bring the cat back to Echizen's place. When Kaidoh left, he sat on a bench with Agano. It was already dark. But he still needed to talk to her. She could tell that too.

"Have you, by any chance, find Tezuka attractive, Agano-sempai?"

Agano crossed her legs and rested her hands on her lap. The pose was not feminine. There was a hostility to it he didn't understand. "One might say, Sadaharu Inui-san. But given the impropriety of that, I certainly couldn't confirm it."

Inui nodded and absentmindedly bumped his knee beside hers. They said nothing about it. Inui asked. "Then why do you seem so determined to know things about him?"

"Do I give such impression?"

"Likely, sempai." Inui shifted from his position and his knee grazed once more on hers. Agano turned to look at him. She rested her hand on the said knee.

Inui waited. She said. "Whatever conjured-up inferences you have on mind right now, Sadaharu-san, be wary that you shouldn't estimate them hurriedly."

He didn't care her hand on his knee. He actually liked it to stay. He answered. "I understand the great importance of the whole affair, sempai."

"Do you, really?"

"I could explain it to you tomorrow. Dinner at a place your choice, perhaps?"

"Does a middle-schooler have enough money to pay for fancy stuff?"

Inui chuckled. "One might say."

Agano pursed her lips and removed her hand. She smiled. "Bon appetit."

--

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--

Inui found Tezuka the next day standing before the tennis court, watching in his profound manner like any other practice. He approached the captain.

"Drink?" Inui offered his jug.

"No, thanks."

"Don't worry. It's grape juice."

"I'm not worried. I don't believe you either."

Inui grinned and sipped his drink contentedly.

Tezuka's stance was the perfect impression of 'keep out' or 'do not disturb.' Inui enjoys standing beside him however. The atmosphere with Tezuka around is despondent and delicate; one dumb question or a pathetic, far-fetched observation on anybody's part might spoil the somberness of the mood. Tezuka was a sturdy tree in the middle of a noisy city. The leaves of his stature might move with the wind but the trunk is solid and the roots are buried and intact.

"Thank you about the other day." Inui remarked after a long period of silence.

Tezuka didn't glance at him. "Why would you thank me for that?"

"I don't know a lot of things about you, Tezuka. I have enough data on you as an athlete but there's something lacking."

Tezuka didn't say anything.

"One of these days, you'll hopefully tell me."

"I would?" Tezuka engaged this conversation although on Inui's end, that sentence might as well be the last. And it probably is.

Inui didn't say anything anymore as he watched Oishi and Kikumaru exchanging shots. He took immense satisfaction that he might get Tezuka out of the thick layer of skin for once. He has Iku Agano to thank for that. He has a lot of things to be grateful about this year. The first time he met Kunimitsu Tezuka never left him. Inui knew from first sight that Tezuka is a self-made man. Self-made men will never be destroyed by people but they could self-destruct. Inui, appalling as it may feel like, wanted front seats to that.

He reserved a notebook for this activity. He named it TEZUGANO.


	5. Shortness in parity, lapse in judgment

**5) Shortness in parity is the greatest lapse in judgment**

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Fuji called Tezuka that morning before his alarm clock even rang. He told Tezuka to meet him in the library after their first class because it's something so important apparently that it can't wait. Tezuka hung up and sat on the edge of his bed, still groggy but he managed to take a shower.

Iku Agano. He loathed her more everyday. She didn't even try to keep herself unnoticed. She's always there in tennis practice, with Inui most of the time, sometimes with Echizen or Ryuuzaki-sensei. Tezuka wanted to know what she's doing with these people but he has to control himself, maintain his composure, whatever. She's a persistent distraction. And he's growing tiresome. But not for long. He will one day turn the tables around. But what's exasperating is how often he thinks about her now. His thoughts have a muggy thickness that made his breaths go short. It's annoying. Besides her constant presence, Tezuka has his injured arm to worry about...and how he has to keep it in check once in a while whenever he's on bed, buried with stress and needing a release. Touching himself seemed to be an unavoidable prospect. But he needs to be stronger than the temptation. It's increasingly frustrating that this sort of feeling can happen to him. Tezuka tried placing a pillow on his crutch as he slept. He did all his assignments, read lessons in advance, fed the fish, folded his clothes...but once all of these menial tasks ceased, he couldn't help but to let his hands wander somewhere down south. The thought of reckless abandon is making his head spin. Is he perverted?

To be constructive and practical, Tezuka decided that masturbation can only occur once every two weeks. He even jotted it down: **M= once/2 wks**. It was posted in plain sight like a mathematical equation of some sort, exposed for ridicule only he could participate on. How ridiculous but it was necessary.

Damn it. Tezuka got to school and looked for Fuji. He saw Oishi instead. He asked about the copy of the matches he prepared for tennis practice today. Tezuka handed it to him, wondering why he's so early but he didn't ask.

"You've been quite silent lately, Tezuka." Oishi frowned, his concern obvious.

What does he mean? Since when did he enjoy talking? "I'm fine."

Before Oishi could open his mouth for a response, Tezuka immediately excused himself, feeling bad that he has to leave a friend confused but he has important matters in his mind to focus on. He went to the library.

He didn't see Fuji. Anywhere. He reached the last shelf. And Agano was there.

Tezuka would've turned around and just walk away before she noticed because it took a long time for her to see him. She was on the floor, legs sprawled before her, red skirt hiking up just above the knees. Her white cotton blouse was stretched because she was reaching for a book on her left which was too far. She reached again, this time raising her torso slightly. Her position was uncomfortable to look at and very revealing. It was early in the morning so she might've surmised that nobody is around to see her. It would've been a smart presumption if not that Tezuka was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This seems to be happening lately. Right now he just stood there, watching her and he shouldn't. It was too late to retract because as soon as she got the book and tossed it to the other side with the other books, her eyes went on the floor to find his feet there and she gazed up, waist bent, her chest almost touching the ground, her legs tucked underneath as if she was about to crawl. There were strands of hair falling in her eyes as she looked. The position, the manner which she stared at him, the way her lips parted in surprise and then suddenly smiled made the chill in Tezuka's spine prickle. He turned away and muttered. "Excuse me. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"By all means, have a look."

Tezuka felt his ears burn. He couldn't answer but then she added. "You might find something that you like on the floor."

He finally looked back at her, face sharp with annoyance. What was she—?

"I could certainly recommend any of these books."

Oh, _those. _On the floor. He could look. He might like something. _What was he thinking anyway?_ Of course she meant the books. But to be quite honest he wasn't interested on them. He was looking at her before he even realized he liked it. What is wrong with him? Bad, Tezuka, bad.

"Cut your tongue, kouhai-san?"

Tezuka was brought back to reality. He frowned deeply and said. "I'm finished with Wilde. It wasn't as corrupt as you tainted it to be."

"What do you think then?"

"I think he writes very well. His characters are formed significantly and he related their experiences in a convincing manner. His themes are not generic but rather very tarnished as you have commented once. But it was a decent novel."

Agano exhaled and her chest heaved together with the soft sound of her sigh. Tezuka blinked and wanted to slap himself for noticing that.

"I'm surprised you managed to pull through and liked it. I was afraid you'll find Wilde distasteful. I thought you'd rather go with principle."

"I'm not really that conventional." Somehow he was offended with her observation.

"In what way are you _not_ conventional, Kunimitsu-kun?"

"For example, I do not mind how suggestive you're sitting right now. You're allowed to freely do that in my presence."

"Tezuka-san!" she exclaimed and laughed. "Are you, by any chance, flirting with me?"

He fought the urge to laugh (and flirt) because he would rather chew glass. And because even if he wanted to flirt, he wouldn't know how to—but he didn't want to flirt, period. But he was pleased that it amused her. He managed to reply in a dry voice, "No. I am not. I do not know why you'd even think that. I'm simply pointing out that I'm not as traditional as you say."

"But your family is?"

"Like any Japanese family, yes." Tezuka prompted a question afterwards. "Were you not brought up with these kinds of strict, familial values in your household, Agano-sempai-san?"

"I was raised by my father alone. He has to work overseas when I was at your age now. So I lived with mother's younger brother for quite some time until he got married when I was eighteen and I have to move to my own place."

Tezuka nodded, fully comprehending. "You were raised to independence early."

"I was." Agano reached out a hand to him. "Help me up."

He didn't hesitate to grasp her hand and pulled her up. It felt different than before. As soon as their hands clasp, he felt a fleeting moment of weakness as though he wished to take both her hands and just keep them to his own taking. Because he needed to. The very thought not only puzzled him but terrified him.

"You're an only child, Tezuka-san?"

"Yes." He answered, pulling the strap of his tennis case as he lowered his gaze to the floor. Agano nodded and stared for a while.

Then she said. "Would you like me to recommend you literature that would blow your mind, kouhai-san?"

Tezuka watched her gaze and shrugged his shoulders. But he asked. "What would that be then?"

Wait. Shit. He was still holding her hand!

He gasped and let go and she laughed. "I was about to draw my hand away but you didn't seem like you're ready to let go."

_What the—?_

"Please don't say stupid things, sempai." Tezuka responded darkly, anger making its way to his throat and scalding his cheeks.

"Look how upset you are!" With a swift motion he didn't expect, her hands were cupping both his cheeks. She was grinning wide.

His lips parted and he was initially going to protest but all thought process didn't function anymore. He was looking at her face, into her eyes and he didn't know what else is there to do but stare. She drew her hands away and picked something from the floor. She handed him the book.

"Why don't you sink your teeth on this one? It's certainly to be chewed and digested." Agano said but he was trying to keep his breathing normal as he focused on the book that was now on his hand.

"_Black Dahlia?_" He read the cover.

"It's contemporary and based loosely on the events surrounding the scandalous murder of a beautiful actress back in the 50's."

"I see." Tezuka was afraid to look at her again. He was starting to feel silly. And warm. Very warm. Not in a comfortable way. Especially in a place like this. Alone with her. Not good.

"You're starting to thrive, Tezuka, as a reader that is, and you must expand your choice in fiction. Then you could move to bigger things. Make it to a point to avoid purple prose unless if it's the good kind."

"Okay." He nodded and he knew he has to get away. But she put a hand on his arm that jerked him up and forced him to look. It was a gentle touch but it didn't feel right to him.

Agano leaned closer to him, her lips grazing his ear as she whispered on it. "And let Inui challenge you to another match. He's getting better you know, ready to kick your ass when the right time comes."

Her words were like wind. The moment she stepped forward to lean her head to the crook of his shoulder and whispered, he lost all common sense. He just froze there, standing very erect, wishing she wouldn't draw back. Tezuka took it all in; her dark hair brushing on his nose, the cologne she wore, the fabric of her blouse that touched his arm even through his thick garment. It didn't have to make sense. He didn't want it to make sense. He just liked her. Hated her. Liked _and_ hated her.

What a wonderful feeling to get tangled upon, as poets might say. Literature, her open door, is starting to pollute his senses.

The way she whispered was coarse and low and he enjoyed the melody of the sound. It was making him feel stupid. She finally drew back and looked at his face and she was still close he can smell her breath, hear her breathe.

"Agano-sem—" he struggled to get the words out but he didn't want to say anything anymore. He just waited for her to do something.

"Is something wrong, Tezuka-san? You look pale. Are you sick?" Her hand swept on his forehead so gently that it somehow blind-sighted him that he couldn't see what's going to happen next. He reacted. Very poorly.

He pushed her to the shelf behind her and pressed his lips against her lips in an ungraceful manner and she gasped in surprise, her fingernails digging on his shoulders. Tezuka claimed her mouth the second she parted her lips and their teeth clashed. She was gripping him hard but her eyes were closed and he was watching her the whole time. Then he closed his eyes and grabbed a fistful of hair from behind her head and plunged his tongue deep into her mouth. Agano relaxed at first and then she made an attempt to push him away but Tezuka didn't yield. He kissed her angrily and clutched her hair in the same fashion. When he ceased he was gasping for breath and so is she. Agano put a hand on her throat and her face was red and she was glaring at him. Tezuka stepped back but she approached and slapped him across the cheek. Tezuka easily looked back defiantly. She slapped him again on the same cheek. He grabbed both her wrists and threw her on the table beside the window. She fell to the floor and squirmed away. Tezuka was reaching out for her and then she told him to stop and listen. She has something to say.

So he listened.

"What you just did is—unforgivable." She was gasping for breath. She tried to keep talking. "I'm convinced that this behavior is partly my fault. I seemed to have rubbed you the wrong way and I apologize. I could also—honestly say, Tezuka, that I derive an amount of pleasure from the way you just mistreated me—which suffice to say makes me even drawn to you, more powerfully than before."

"So you consent with this misconduct, sempai? This is your doing. I was never this kind of monster—but you have turned me into one. How did you do it?" Tezuka walked to her and helped her up, holding her by the elbows. Instead of an actual answer to his rhetorical question, she kissed him. It wasn't like the way he kissed her. It was soft and moist and it felt like she cared about him. This made him hate her more. But he allowed it and he kissed her back. She was fondling his hair and breathing onto their mouths while teasing his tongue with hers. Tezuka pulled away. He glared. He didn't know what he's doing. Somebody has to explain this to him.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. Tezuka let go of her arms and stepped away and then he took his tennis case which fell to the floor earlier because of the struggle and the book as well. He didn't look back as he left the library.

He felt ashamed and cruel, two things he promised himself to never become. In just one passing moment he did. And like a beast, like a _man_, he has violated her. She was at least six years his senior. He wasn't thinking at all, was he?

He lost his head. He failed himself. No matter how he tried to justify it, it didn't change the fact that it was mortifying.

--

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--

"Kunimitsu? Kunimitsu? Are you all right?"

Tezuka was on bed. What is he doing here? Wasn't he at school?

"Are you sick, grandson?"

He fluttered his eyes open. He was on bed and his grandfather had his hands on his shoulders, shaking him gently. Tezuka blinked several times before he asked. "Was I dreaming?"

"It may seem so. Your alarm clock was set an hour ago." His grandfather took the said clock and showed it to him. "It seems like you didn't hear it which is unusual. So I was asking you if were sick."

"I missed class." Tezuka answered blankly, his head still heavy with the dream.

"It doesn't matter. If you're sick—"

"I never missed class. And I don't get sick."

"Then what is the matter, grandson? You don't look like you can even sit up."

"I don't know." That was the first honest thing he said since ever. He closed his eyes again and rubbed his temples, sighing.

"It's okay if you don't go to school."

"I never miss school."

"Stop being stubborn and do as I say. I don't think you're in your right self, Kunimitsu-san." His grandfather added firmly. Tezuka decided that he shouldn't argue and just comply.

His grandfather watched him closely and asked. "What's the matter? You know you can always tell me."

"I—I don't think I can talk to you about...this." He felt ashamed and it's a good thing his hand was still on his eyes and it's not showing.

"About what, foolish child! What do you mean you can't talk to your grandfather?" His grandfather, with all his years of martial arts, grabbed his right arm and pulled him up, applying enough pressure on the elbow to completely wake Tezuka.

"Gran—please! Okay, okay, stop!" Tezuka cried out. His grandfather let go. He frowned and looked at the table beside the bed and took something.

"Is this a novel?" he asked.

Tezuka glanced at it and his eyes widened in horror. _Black Dahlia?_ So does that mean—the library incident happened? Well...hold on, it did! It did! Yesterday, that is...and Fuji called him up about something. He went to the library and he saw Agano. Agano gave him the book. And...

"I didn't do it." Tezuka muttered to himself. His grandfather looked at him.

No, he didn't kiss her! Of course not.

"What day is it today?" he asked.

His grandfather didn't care to conceal his anxiety. "Thursday, grandson."

Yes, yes, it makes perfect sense! Today he was having a dream _about what happened yesterday_...only that it was different this time. In his dream he did that disgusting thing that he would of course never do in real life! Oh thank the heavens!

"Thank god!" Tezuka jumped out of bed and grabbed his cell phone from the corner. He called Oishi.

"You're not in school—are you okay?"

"Yes. Did you ask yesterday for a copy for today's matches, Oishi?"

"Uhm, yeah. Then after school you asked for you and Inui to have another match. Why did you do that anyway—"

"Listen, Ill be there in the practice. Tell the teachers I had a headache. See you." Tezuka hung up and sighed in relief again.

"Kunimitsu?"

He turned to his grandfather and offered a slight, reassuring smile. "I'm fine, grandpa. I guess I was just really having a headache last night."

"Does this mean you have to go to tennis practice?"

"I should. I can't _not_ be there." Tezuka nodded and took the book from him as calmly as he could. He then rushed to the bathroom and closed the door. He wasn't ready to confess to his grandfather about this terrible thing happening to him. He wasn't ready to analyze about that dream either. But he was going to figure it out. He's going to have a match with Inui and then he's going to confront Agano as soon as he finished reading the book she recommended.

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The first thing Tezuka did when he got to school is to find Iku Agano. And then Fuji. He has to be absolutely sure that his head is still attached to where it should be and that his brain and consciousness are not questionable.

He saw Echizen walking to his direction. "Buchou."

"Echizen."

The young boy narrowed his eyes and repeated inquiringly. "Buchou?"

"Echizen?"

"Hai, Echizen-desu. Tezuka-buchou?"

_Smart ass._ "Is Agano-sempai around?"

He nodded and pointed at the door to his classroom. Just when he did, the said woman was coming outside. She smiled when she saw the both of them.

"Sensei, Buchou wants to talk to you." Echizen walked ahead. "He's been acting weird so be careful around him."

"When I get back to the court, I want to see you running forty laps, Echizen."

The boy abruptly stopped walking and then he answered. "Hai, hai."

He left. Tezuka faced Agano and he realized what the problem here is. He had his first sex dream. About her. A sex dream. Technically it was some rough kissing but a sex dream nevertheless. If he wasn't having a headache before, he is certainly about to have one right now. Mistake number four.

"Have you started reading?" She asked as she approached him slowly.

Reality check: Tezuka indeed found Agano in the library. The clothing she wore was the same but he did not see her in a sitting position like that in his dream. Agano did give him the book and said that he should have a match with Inui. But she did not whisper in his ear. She did not touch his cheeks. They did not kiss.

So why did Tezuka conjured up those images? In the dream he was _checking her out._ In the dream he was sporting an _erection _(ugh!) He knew that dreaming is unconsciously done but no subconscious of his should posses such a colorful, malignant imagination, right? _Right?!_

Agano watched him, waiting for an answer.

"No, I haven't yet. But I will soon." He shortly replied.

"Is there anything else? You look like you wanted to say something to me." Agano crossed her arms and smiled at him. "So what is it?"

"Why are you recommending books to me?"

"Is something wrong about that?"

"No, no, I just need to know why." Tezuka bit his lower lip and adjusted his glasses. Is this him fidgeting? He should keep his hands on his sides. So he did.

"Well, I'm a wide reader meself, see. And you want to read something different so I recommend that book because it's a crime novel and it's very provocative. I think you might enjoy that kind of material."

Tezuka tried not to look at her blouse. Or her skirt. It was gray this time, the skirt, a little longer than the red one yesterday. The blouse is beige—_stop looking!_

"I see. What makes you think I like provocative material?" Tezuka spoke in a bored tone because he was concealing his messy thoughts and his eyes were on the floor, unable to look at her face.

"I'm not sure you do but isn't Tezuka-san very open to new things?" Agano looked at the floor. "What is down there that's more interesting than me, anyway?"

Tezuka immediately looked up. "Nothing." _Does she always wear stockings?_ He never noticed before. He shook his head and repeated. "Nothing at all."

This is crazy. He's suffocating around her and he's paying close attention to the manner of her dress. This is crazy.

"What makes you think I'm open to new things?"

"Why do you keep asking about what I think? Why does it surprise you that I make presumptions about you? Adults do that to children all the time."

"I'm not a child."

"In common standards, I still consider you one."

"What common standards?"

"For example you ask a lot of questions. That's a childish act."

"Children are not the only ones who like to ask questions. Adults do that too. If you consider yourself one at that, you ask me a lot of questions before. It is only appropriate if you answer my questions this time."

"Then you're interested to know what I think about?" Agano cocked her head to the side and flashed a grin. "Is that what this is about?"

"It doesn't have to mean anything, sempai." Tezuka interjected. He adjusted his glasses again. "And I'm not interested in everything you think about, only things that have something to do with me."

"Why do you have to know what I think about you and everything that relates to that? Does this affect you directly?"

"Why do you ask questions after my questions instead of answering them?"

Agano laughed. She uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, you're clearly trying to make a point here."

"Yes, I am." Tezuka answered firmly. "What I said about before, about hating you, it doesn't change. I still do."

"That is stated well although it did hurt my feelings. I was just trying to be your friend."

"No, you're not."

"So you're suddenly an expert with _how_ I think?"

"I never claimed to be an expert about you. And you never claim being an expert about me. But I get the feeling that you think you are."

"Oh?"

"And you're quite smug about it."

"And am I right?"

"Excuse me?"

"About being an expert about you." Agano was prompting a challenge.

Tezuka stiffened but he didn't back down. "No. Because I won't allow it."

"Do you really think it's something that you can control?"

"Yes. I'm very excellent with keeping people in a distance away from me."

"Oh, I see."

"And that is what I'm doing with you. You're no exception, sempai, no matter how much you think you are."

Agano chuckled and tossed her hair. It was one of those female gestures that Tezuka and all other boys can never figure out. But it was fun to look at.

"So where does this leave us?" Agano asked as she stepped closer to him.

Tezuka didn't flinch. He kept his arms crossed. "As we were."

"And what is that exactly? I need to get a crystal clear picture."

Tezuka slightly looked over his shoulder. And then he glanced back at her, lowering his voice. "You're twenty-something, aren't you, sempai?"

Agano raised an eyebrow. "Why, yes, dear."

"And that is what it is. You're an adult and you see me as a child."

"So whatever kind of attraction we both may have for each other is society's definition of taboo especially in our culture, kouhai-san?"

Tezuka blinked. "Yes."

"So there is attraction involved?" Agano lowered her voice now and leaned a little forward. He sighed.

"From my end, there seems to be a slight one, yes."

She smiled a smile he had never seen before on her. He felt the proximity tingling between them. It was unbearable. He wanted to turn away just as many times like before, like in the dream, but it grabbed hold of him. He just couldn't.

"There may be another way around it." She remarked.

Tezuka inquired an answer with a look. She expounded. "If you and I would not put so many restrictions with our age, if I would stop seeing you as a child and you will begin to see me as an adult _but_ not as someone out of your league, then we can work something out."

"Why should we?" he was almost afraid to hear the answer to that.

"Because from my end, I wanted to do things to you and I can't without consent and without the possibility you may misinterpret is as deviancy."

"The fact that you speak freely about this, sempai, means you think I won't see it as deviancy, which means you think I don't see you out of my league."

"Is it a very wrong speculation?" Agano looked at him in a way one might look at someone with a motive.

"Not at all, I—" Tezuka realized that he was edging close and looking into her face, unable to stop staring in her eyes. "I don't think it's wrong. But I do think that as much as I can decide on my own, you would still be held responsible for whatever would occur between us."

"And so?"

"I don't want you to get hurt." The statement came as a shock to them both that for a while they paused to understand what is happening.

"That's very sweet, dear."

Tezuka nodded quickly and then he couldn't help but ask. "What sort of things—you said you want to do things to me...what—what does that mean?"

He almost cracked a smile because he has _a good idea_ what that means. But playing dumb could be his best ticket here. His childish appeal, you may call it.

In response, Agano asked him to step away. He did. She stepped backwards as well. And then she looked around to see if there were people passing by. Seeing that they're all alone in this corridor, she looked back at him and smiled.

"I run my fingers through your hair. You feel it in your scalp. And then my hands went down to your shoulders then to your chest and I look into your eyes like what I'm doing right now and I tell you that you're in a safe place."

She said this very slowly in a hushed tone and Tezuka was bewildered as he stood there, digesting her words. He nodded and exhaled, soothing the tension on his stomach that's coiling beneath him.

"And then how would you respond?" she asked.

Tezuka placed a hand on his collar, debating on unbuttoning it because he was feeling the heat rising on his neck. "I don't know."

"I think you do, Kunimitsu. You just need to verbalize it."

Tezuka thought about the dream. "I guess...I would like to kiss you."

Agano narrowed her eyes as if she was in deep trance and her body language was more relaxed, even organic as if she was in a state of surrender to a spiritual force. She didn't say a word as they continued to look at each other.

"And then I—I think I want you to slap me and make me feel like what I did was wrong and I need to be guilty about it. So I could—could think about how horrible it was that I did it."

"Why do you want to feel guilty about how you did me wrong?"

"Because it means I'm losing control, it means I'm gaining something that's totally incapacitating in return."

"So you needed to be slapped."

"Only when and if I did something that disgraces you."

"You want to disgrace me and be punished for it?"

"Yes." Tezuka answered darkly.

Agano just nodded. He was relieved that she didn't ask where this was coming from. He didn't know how to answer her. But he's tired of correcting himself. He just needed to get this out before it starts to decay on his insides.

She started to run her hands on her neck and behind her ears in a slow motion as he watched her. She had her eyes closed. She was still touching her neck when he approached her and he placed his hands on top of hers and just stayed there. She breathed out and he inhaled it. He was taller than her by four inches or so and he had to bend forward to graze his lips on her cheek and finally on her lips. But he didn't want to kiss her yet. She began to open her eyes to gaze upon him. She reached out for the circles under his eyes and then her fingers traced his nose and then touched his lips and chin. She leaned forward to rest her lips on his collar and even though it was only in the fabric that she placed the kiss, Tezuka felt it writhing and jumping on his flesh and bones.

Is this another dream? A better version than the last one? It's really hard to say because he has no way of knowing if this is fiction or not. He didn't care.

Then she pulled away from his mild clutches. He didn't ask. They were in the school corridor and it would be very severely unfortunate if anyone saw them.

"So this is where it leaves us." Agano remarked. She crossed her arms and smiled at him. "Okay. You should run along to practice. I think Inui needs to have that match now, kouhai-san."

"Will you watch?" It was more of a request than a question. He was beginning to feel the bulge of swallowing his pride.

"I will." She smiled wider. "I promise."

While he was walking after leaving the scene, he didn't find himself waking up on a bed. So this wasn't a dream anymore. Whatever happened in the corridor was real. Tezuka wasn't sure if he should be relieved about that or not. He proclaimed surrender to her. She yielded him. He ceased doubting himself for feeling the way he did. He was no longer repulsed of the idea of kissing or even ripping her clothes off. He was shivering with that desire, actually. He felt free from the disbelief of his actions and of the consequences that may arise if he pursues it. He felt in control.

For someone who was brought up to conforming ideals, he wants to be validated by independence from the norm. That's what Tezuka is aiming for. He's driven with a lot of things like tennis and winning the game. He's driven to go for the feeling in his gut. And right now it's telling him to discover something in himself and that debasement might be his ruin but it could also be a victory of spirit.

It wasn't sex that he wanted. It was part of that, admittedly but not the very physical act itself. It was not Iku Agano that he wanted but she was what he has his eyes set on at the moment. It was all about her scent, her hair, her parting lips, her full bosom, her thighs, her neck, _her hands_ that he was so engrossed of having, as well as her words, _her wiles_, her chortle, her juxtaposition of wit and grace that he should gain. It wasn't just about the delight of a sexual act with her. It was more of deliverance; liberty without fear that once he crossed the line of corporal maturity he will find the mental gratification in his prowess.

So bring the game. Play with no regrets.


	6. Profundity is fundamental

_Warning__: Mildly explicit content. There would be some sensual instances commenced here. This Tezuka POV is set after the match between him and Inui. Some minor clarifications: I know it might get confusing since it's supposed to alternate to Inui POV by this chapter. But since I'm in the mood, I want to skip to another Tezuka POV and the next chapters (7) and (8) would be two Inui POVs; (7) would be during the Inui-Tezuka match and (8) would be the aftermath. And by (9), we go back to the original flow of the story._

**XXX**

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6) Profundity is fundamental**

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Iku Agano twirled a cigarette in her fingers before lighting it. She puffed it twice, taking her time, and then she threw it to the ground and grinded her foot on it. Tezuka watched her carefully and frowned. They were alone in the tennis court and it was about ten in the evening and he wasn't comfortable. His grandfather allowed him to stay late nights if it's for tennis practice that Tezuka would sometimes devote himself to when it's needed most. The fact is, though, he wasn't being honest completely when he told his grandfather about the purpose of this nocturnal practice. Of course it was still about tennis (it could never be anything else without tennis) but Tezuka decided to take advantage of this by asking Agano to accompany him because he wants to talk to her about the match with Inui and he wants to know what she thinks about it.

Whatever it is that made him so concerned about her opinion is beyond him. Maybe it was that annoying desire growing and feeding itself inside him, the one pulling the strings and making him sick with nausea. Standing in the field across her as he grasped too tightly on the racket, Tezuka watched Agano fully and the way the moonlight seemed to bounce glow on her complexion that made it impossible to look the other way. She didn't seem to notice him staring because she was busy lighting another cigarette, taking two puffs again and then disposing it. He didn't want to know what she's doing.

"Dammit, Kunimitsu, can you believe that smoking kills?" Agano grinded the cigarette on the ground for the third time.

"Does this directly concern you?"

"No, I don't smoke."

"Then what are you doing?"

She lighted another one. "Making a statement."

"What kind of statement? That smoking on school grounds because there is no supervision involved is admissible?" Tezuka didn't care to hide his displeasure.

"You're a spiteful one, aren't you, darling?" She made a face and kept repeating the process until the box was empty and there are scattered cigarettes on the ground.

"You better clean that up, sempai."

"Sure, I will. I just have to give in to the whim."

"Which is?"

"Smoking the cancer stick, see where that leads me." She coughed. "Perhaps an asthma attack or a more constructive lecture from you."

"It certainly would be quite an entertainment for you, sempai, since you regard conventional things as something to insult and challenge." Tezuka swung his racket slightly as he clutched the ball with his other hand.

Agano raised an eyebrow. "I can't win with you, can I?"

Tezuka hit the ball across the net and it landed heavily on the other side of the court. He said nothing and took another ball from his pocket.

"I was reminded of how persistent you are before, trying to convince me that you're not conventional. So why are you so offended?"

He glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to the net. "I don't know."

"You're giving me the chills." Agano tossed her hair. "Do you know that?"

Tezuka looked back at her again and fixed his stare on her hair. She always kept it in a ponytail but this time she had it loose on her shoulders, unkempt but strangely endearing to look at. _Shit, he didn't just make a stupid observation like that._

"I don't know that I give you such 'chills' as you call it."

"How about a demonstration?" She walked towards him from behind and slowly circled her arms around his waist, holding on tightly but gently at the same time. Tezuka hissed and looked away, waiting for her to be done with whatever she wanted to do. Agano massaged the muscles on his stomach and each brush from her fingers teased the flesh there. He didn't want to panic but this is harsh of her. She knew now how she makes him feel especially with proximity and contact like this. What is her _fucking_ game already? Tezuka sighed in discomfort.

Her fingers continued to move through the cloth of his shirt, her nails slightly scraping. Her thumbs were downward and the rest of her fingers splayed methodically as if she was playing an instrument of some kind. Tezuka didn't move and kept his position steady. He was grabbing the racket hard and he can't seem to relax his nerves anymore, not with those fingers on him. God damn her.

"These are the chills I'm talking about, can you feel it?" she asked.

"Aren't chills supposed to be on the spine?"

"Then what do you call this?"

"I don't know." _Heat. Smoldering flames, whatever._

Agano removed her fingers but only momentarily. She was now running two fingers behind him, right on his spine just as he directed. Now, _that_ is a chill!

He tried not to wince or have his body arch and respond to the sensitive touch. He closed his eyes for a while and counted one to ten. Her fingers were still teasing his spine and he counted eleven to twenty this time.

Then she spoke. "I was alone one night in my apartment and I was imagining your racket and that my hands were on them, gripping it so tight it could just burst and be torn in half on my fingers. Then I imagine that my hands would bleed and I would lick them off..."

Tezuka didn't like the way she sounded as she described the whole thing. But he flinched slightly and cleared his throat. And then, with much dread, he asked her what she imagined next.

"The blood was sticky and I keep licking but it seemed to me as if it was flowing from the racket itself. And it wasn't red anymore. It was white...very sticky white."

"Are you sure you were holding my racket?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it's _your_ racket I'm fondling."

"You better give it back then." Tezuka lowered his voice in a tone that surprised him.

Agano giggled and she grabbed his shoulders and massaged them and then her hands moved to the sides of his neck and she pressed her fingers. Tezuka sighed.

"I think I'm going to keep your racket for a while." Agano walked in front of him and grabbed the racket in question but Tezuka didn't surrender it.

"Come on, Kunimitsu. I'll take good care of it."

"I refuse. I have to use it for the Hyotei match."

Agano pouted. It was actually cute. Tezuka frowned deeply and realized he might not be able to take it much longer. He could just push her to the ground and have her legs spread before him…_oh no, what is wrong with his thoughts? Bad brain._

"I think I should be going home now."

"So you invited me just to watch you play by yourself, Kunimitsu? I would have rather liked it if you were using another _racket_ altogether, you know."

The suggestive language didn't disgust him but it appealed to him instead that he had to stop himself from smirking and affirming.

"This is my favorite racket." He played the naïve card.

Agano knew that Tezuka understood what she was implying but was pretending that he didn't and it seemed to please her well. She inserted her fingers on the strings of the racket and pulled, the strings crackled. Tezuka watched. Agano kept her eyes on his face as she kept plucking on the strings. And then her hand moved up to his left arm and cupped his elbow, massaging it.

"Come closer." She whispered and as much as Tezuka resisted, his body, especially his hands, do not seem to adhere his stoical command. He was leaning against her now, his lips on her hair, inhaling the scent and he still clutched the racket while his other hand searched her collar and he pulled it hard enough to unbutton it.

His index finger moved down to her neck and rested on the outline of her chest where her breasts were held by the garment of her brassier. He could only see the smooth skin that the two buttons exposed, not much flesh to get him interested. So he took a risk and unbuttoned another one and it revealed the white cotton brassier only slightly and he could finally see the form of her bosom. Tezuka moved further when she didn't protest and he kept unbuttoning until he reached the final one on her belly. He used the racket to move the garment away so he could look closely and enjoy the view. He used the racket again to press it on one of her breasts, rubbing it gently. Agano remained still and passive the whole time. And then she raised her arms up to run her fingers on the tangled curls of her dark hair. Tezuka observed her face and then he saw her smiling. He proceeded pressing the racket on her belly this time, moving the edge of the rim in circles on her navel. She moaned. He didn't know how to react to that but he liked the sound and so he pressed harder and she closed her eyes and moaned once more. Her arms were around his waist, pulling him closer. Tezuka had an idea and he trusted his instincts to execute it. He held the racket the other way around so that the handle was resting dangerously close to her crotch and he pushed down gently and poked repeatedly. And she enjoyed the sensation. He can see it in her eyes.

They walked away from the court so she could sit on one of the benches and he kneeled in front of her, capturing her gaze and not letting go.

Tezuka lifted her skirt with the handle of the racket while his other hand went inside her inner thigh and gripped it so he could push her legs apart. She obeyed. He still used the racket as he plunged it deeper on the fabric of her panties which he cautiously pulled down, not really knowing where he should put it but was confident enough that he does know female anatomy even if the knowledge is not extensive. Agano guided him the whole time and she allowed the racket's handle to sink gently inside her, probing and she moaned louder as it did. Tezuka was focused on trying not to hurt her so he kept the handle in safe distance from her privates but he relished the idea that he was putting it inside her, wondering how wet (as he had heard from some boys during a tennis match one time) a girl can get.

He can feel that the handle was touching the outside of her folds and he peeked because he wanted to get a look at her and what she has to offer. This was his first time to be acquainted with a woman's organ and he was instantly mesmerized. He just has to touch it. Without words exchanged, he searched her eyes to ask permission and she nodded.

Tezuka placed the racket on the bench and thrust his index finger inside her, wondering if this is how it's supposedly done. He kept looking at her expression just to be sure. She didn't stop him so he probed deeper, his finger slick with moist as he moved it around for a better angle. The wet walls were closing down on it in the most electrifying way and he smirked a little and tried putting on another finger to ease the tension of her muscles clamping down. It worked. She was wider for access and he looked at Agano to see that she was breathing heavily; tiny beads of sweat appearing on her forehead.

He removed his fingers, debating if he should wipe them. Agano saved him from the dilemma by taking his hand and licking off the taste. He watched her, amused and then he finally spoke. "This shouldn't change anything or affect the status of our acquaintance, sempai."

"It's funny how you could never refer such status as a relationship, Kunimitsu-chan."

He scoffed slightly and stood up. He asked her to put her panties back on and he took the racket.

Agano pulled her panties up and crossed her legs, grinning. "Have you accomplished your goal and now fully prepared to be smug about it?"

"Don't speak about my goals if you do not have any idea what you're talking about, sempai."

She laughed. "You are such a darling! Come, sit with me. I have so much to teach you. You're a fast learner so that alone could save us time."

He sat on the bench and listened to her relate stories about sex. She even took time explaining some concepts from the psychologist Sigmund Freud whom Tezuka has heard of once but he didn't realize that his ideas were this intriguing.

"What chapter are you now in _Black Dahlia_?"

Tezuka shook his head as he watched her hand crawling to his knee, her fingers dancing. "My grandfather is reading it for some reason. And he seems to like it."

"Wow, isn't that just dandy?" Agano tapped his knee.

"Dandy?" He gazed at her face and was tempted to lean closer. She smiled at him and removed her hand from his knee and proceeded cradling the back of his head instead and Tezuka moved closer, clearing his throat and shifting his gaze to the side. She kissed his cheek.

Tezuka cautiously tried to move an angle to which he could kiss her on the lips but she pulled away and uncrossed her legs. She placed one leg on his lap and tickled his neck playfully. He was trying not to melt but the sensation was just too much for his self-mastery to keep stable. She kissed him on the other cheek this time and it was longer than the first. She was breathing on him as well and Tezuka felt the temperature was sneaking on him and boiling his insides and as feverish as he already was, he still managed to circle both his arms (weakly) around her waist to hold her against him firmly. He didn't think about it anymore as he kissed her lips and stayed there. He was caving in everywhere and he couldn't stop himself from pressing his lips against hers more eagerly for his body needed to be saturated by everything wondrous about her.

And then she kissed back with more enthusiasm, her tongue glossing his lips and he clamped their mouths together, unable to resist any longer. The tension in his loins is building up, thrashing and mincing him apart. Tezuka could tell that she sensed the urgency in his part because she slightly pulled away. But he didn't let her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gripping her in place and kissed her roughly, nibbling her lips forcefully and she couldn't do anything but tilt her head back and enjoy the aggressive contact. Both her legs were now wrapped around his waist and her hands were once again massaging the muscles in his stomach and he had no idea why she's so good at that. Tezuka's hands, however, remained on her shoulders and occasionally on her neck and he was afraid that his strength was choking her but she didn't seem to mind. He stopped kissing her to take a big gulp of breath and the soaked feeling was gone immediately, leaving his lips dry and sore. He stared at her, glazed with awe and clarity.

"I think I understand now." He muttered. Agano looked at him questioningly so he continued. "My father caught these two middle-schoolers in our backyard, making out, I don't really know because I only caught a glimpse of it. I thought they were bad kids, you know, risking humiliation for that sort of activity."

"But now that you're walking in their shoes, the grass is greener after all, right?" Agano chuckled and fixed her hair in a ponytail. Tezuka just nodded and stood up. He took the racket and told her that he has to practice.

"Kunimitsu-chan, can I ask you something?"

Tezuka hit the ball across the net and glanced at her. "Yes?"

"You don't think there are any qualms present in this arrangement? I am, after all, six years your senior."

Tezuka said nothing for a while. He placed the racket on his right hand and started hitting another ball. "There are far too many, sempai. I compromised myself when I kissed you earlier, considering that I hate you so much."

"You still do?" She chuckled. "But why? I thought we got pass that?"

"I told you before it'll never change."

"Well, 'hate' is such a strong word. Do you find it immensely necessary?"

"It's the only accurate term I can find."

"And how about the other one, the lust, can we settle calling it that?" she challenged. Tezuka made a few strokes in his right hand before switching back again to his left. He exhaled and gripped the racket tighter.

"We must." He answered shortly.

"We barely know each other, you know."

"Back in the library, you told me you were raised alone by your father and you learned to live independently since then."

"Yeah, I guess that's about it, my family history, that is. And yours?"

"Parents and grandparents. We all live together. Only child."

"I assume your friends are your teammates and your teammates are your friends?"

"I wouldn't exactly call all of them that. Most of the time they're pleasant company and sometimes there are some of them I need to be patient with." Tezuka started switching his grips in a continuous motion as he continued to talk. "I know I strike as someone who takes things seriously but that's just how I do it to get things moving around in order. I care not much of unrelated matters, especially personal. It's not me to get involved in my teammates' personal business."

"Do you ever wonder why you're so serious?"

"I sometimes wonder about thinking about it."

"And why won't you?"

"It's inconceivable to dwell on irrelevant matters."

"Maybe there's some kind of importance to it, Tezuka."

Tezuka looked at her and then he gazed across the net and on the scattered balls on the ground. His eyes rested on the litter of cigarettes. He decided to clean it up himself. Agano just sat there and watched him. He realized that her blouse was still open and he didn't know if she knows it and if she doesn't, he couldn't bring himself to tell her because the view is just...spectacular.

"Kunimitsu-chan?" She was finally approaching him after he threw the litter on the garbage disposal. He looked at her and she was standing closer to him.

"God, you're handsome." Agano placed both her hands on his cheeks. "Do you know what sort of ideas I get when I stare at you like this?"

"Do I really care to inform myself?" Tezuka asked.

"It's a shame, a tragedy even, that you're fourteen and you look this good." She kissed him on the chest. He literally shivered. "But then again, what is so tragic about that? You're ripe for such a tender age. It's so sinful and taboo, don't you think? I couldn't help myself."

Tezuka felt like he was under a spell and it's been like this ever since she agreed to engage his interest. This is sinful and wrong and punishable and unreal. But he liked it. A lot. Too much. It's sick.

"And your hands." Agano took his hands as a demonstration as she spoke. "So strong and delicate at the same time. Your fingers are perfect. Your arms and your shoulders; your chest and your hips; your supple thigh muscles..."

Her hands were all over him, just as he always fantasized. She was on her knees and letting her fingers run up and down his legs and he closed his eyes and said nothing. The blood in his temples is pounding too loudly. He had to keep himself in control. She stood up again and pulled him down towards her and he immediately wrapped his arms behind her back and raised her up a little. He kissed her with more initiative and confidence now. He has to have this. Her. Because it felt good and he cannot get away from it any longer.

"Why did you suggest to Inui to have a match with me?" he asked, wanting so bad to know her game.

She looked at him. "I think he's a talented one, don't you?"

"Yes."

"But you don't like being challenged like that?"

"I think Inui is excellent and resourceful. I don't mind duels. It just surprised me, that's all."

"But you won. You always do."

"Did you think I would win?"

She smiled gently. "I didn't cancel the possibility that Inui could. I've only seen you play once. And that was my first time to see him play."

"You're quite acquainted with him, aren't you?" Tezuka didn't care to hide his silent contempt anymore.

"What does that supposed to mean then?"

"Why don't you tell me? I don't consider myself a pilgrim of information like that. It's not something I could figure out even if I care."

"And this is how you react when you don't care? Such irony."

"It's weird to dangle around Inui all day, ignoring what I could think about the absurd situation. You can be downright hateful, Agano-sempai."

"Kunimitsu-chan, you really shouldn't hate me." Agano pulled away and looked at him in the eye. "It's upsetting, really. What kind of girl wants her paramour to be so obnoxious and unfeeling?"

"I am neither." Tezuka frowned because he was disappointed that her lips and her breath were no longer in his possession. "I am not juvenile. I don't recall being one in my entire life. And I'm not unfeeling because if I was, I wouldn't be—I wouldn't feel like this at all. And I choose what I want to feel about you and this whole thing."

"But don't you think hatred—"

"And what are you asking from me, sempai?"

She paused and then she sighed, breathing into him and he felt like he was knocked down by a force. He kept still and held her, waiting for her response.

"I'm asking you for your surrender."

"Pardon?"

"If you want us to move along and for things to go smoothly, you should allow yourself to be weak around me. I want you to let your guard down."

"And what happens then?" Tezuka never really thought about accepting another person's control over him because it's ridiculous and infuriating. But he asked because he needed her to assure him that if he did let his guard down, he won't regret it. He needed to hear from her that he's the only thing that matters to her. Selfish and crude as it sounds, he wanted to hear that she likes to own him. And he will fight the urge to let her win because he's competitive in spirit so things will never go smoothly between them.

"What happens is that I take you to places and you'll be the happiest boy there is."

"Places? What kind of places?" He rubbed his palms on her back and pulled her closer to taste her breath against his lips. He wanted to bite her lips as she inched dangerously close to be devoured once more. But he listened to what she has to say.

She went on. "Happy places. You know, when you were a little boy, you once believed in happy places, like a carnival with free rides and free food and a circus filled with happy clowns."

"Clowns are creepy."

"Yes they are. But they're also exciting."

"You're taking me to a carnival?" Tezuka gripped the back of her head, slipping his fingers through her hair and removing her ponytail. His other arm remained circled around her waist. Agano brushed their noses together and closed her eyes. She kissed his mouth with weight and he felt his entire face warm like his blood was boiled and his flesh was smoldering. He could feel his glasses were fogging up with steam. Tezuka held onto her tighter and wanted so bad to crush her bones so he could keep her everywhere. She pulled away once again.

"Yes, a carnival and any happy place you want to see." She was breathing heavily and she had her hands on his cheeks and she was looking at him like she could never look at anything else but his eyes. She noticed his glasses were hazed up, due to the heat of their breaths and moisture of their mouths sharing tongues and lips so Agano pushed it through his hair and kissed him some more. Tezuka used to view kissing very unsanitary and repulsive but he realized that it's illogical that people who do it would do it if it wasn't pleasant. He's beginning to appreciate physical affection more and more as he gets condensed inside her taste and scent. Everything is soft and wet. Everything is just tingling around him and pounding hard on everything alive inside him.

Agano removed her arms around him and took a step back as soon as he let go. They stared at each other, waiting.

He decided to speak first. "It's getting late. I need to get some rest."

"Almost one in the morning, actually."

"Then we really have to go home."

"Perhaps we should go our separate ways, Kunimitsu-chan."

"I can still walk you home, sempai."

Tezuka insisted on his offer and she gave in without much effort. While walking in the dimly-lit street with the dark sky almost gray, Tezuka allowed her hand on his arm since nobody who knows them could probably be still awake in this dead of night. She started talking after a few minutes.

"And you've never made out with anybody before me?"

He shook his head.

"But don't you have skirts chasing you around?"

"It doesn't follow that I give a damn."

"What's the matter? _Too_ young for your preferences?"

Tezuka glared at her with that remark. She chuckled. He looked straight ahead again as they walked and he answered. "Too _ordinary_."

"You should give some of those girls a chance. You ought to go out with people your age, you know. It might help to cool things off a bit between us so it won't get that intense. Do you understand me?"

"No." Tezuka replied. "What makes you think I like things cooled off? Do you?"

Agano sighed. "Well, you're you and I'm the adult. I don't think I'm fully capable to handle you enough. You're stronger than me and your strength can really surround me."

"I'll garner more self-control."

"That's almost impossible because I like to tease and you don't play well with that at all. You can't help yourself too."

"It's because you don't look at me normally, sempai. It always feels like you wanted to eat me. It's disturbing."

She laughed and punched him lightly on the arm. "It wouldn't have been like that if you're not being so coy all the time."

Tezuka walked faster. "It's your problem you can't deal with a clear head."

"I'm not the only one whose hormones are raging."

"Mine are just fine."

"You were practically consuming me earlier. You're a needy kisser."

"I'm not needy."

"Not generally. I meant only as a kisser."

"How am _I _a needy kisser?"

"You're not contented with soft and gentle. You like it greedy and full-on."

"That's false. I was just following your lead."

"I wasn't leading anymore, not with you handling me."

"Why is bitch being Agano-sempai?" Tezuka scoffed with sarcasm and walked faster once more. She laughed and latched into his arm securely and they got back to her apartment by one-thirty. Tezuka fought the urge to come up and give in to his teenage deviancy because he's still Kunimitsu Tezuka and he learned manners. Admittedly around her he seems to forget his values but he needs to practice apathy once they're in public or this could devastate their situations. He can't have that destruction especially with the upcoming Hyotei match. When he thought about tennis, it brings him back to reality and solid ground so that's what he should think about from now on when she's not around to poke confusion and the hornies out of him. Tennis. Hyotei match. Nationals.

Agano kissed him one last time and he allowed it soft and gentle if that's what she wanted, their bodies pressed in a calm stance and their hands grasping each other's. And then it ended. She looked at him and said good night. He grunted as a response and silently walked off.


	7. Less spaces for consequences

_A/N: Two Inui POVs will commence by this chapter and the next. The Tezuka POV will come by chapter 9 and then the flow of alternating POVs between the two meganes will go back as planned._

**XXX**

**7) Less space for consequences **

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Everyday Inui looked forward to the day he can reckon his data into application. He persevered because there was no lack of skill during his risky undertakings. There was a calculated method in everything he sets his mind on. This compels him into the edge of gambling the stakes for the heck of it because he knows that he had already intentionally laid pieces down to his advantage. He placed an odd variable here and there and no sooner than he expected, a weaker opponent would find himself in a corner without available solutions. Inui had a way about him that paralyzes his contenders by reading their cards before they even tossed them for show. Given his concentration and talent in observation, Inui might be one of the most frightening athletes out there who sees a science in tennis and there is also the drive to defeat the one who had challenged him most of all, Kunimitsu Tezuka, and this fuels him from the surface to the core.

First things first, he tells himself. He approached Iku Agano who was leaning against the wall, chatting amiably with Sakuno and Tomoko.

"Inui-sempai!" Tomoko, the energetic freshman who worships their rookie, beamed at him. "Good luck with the ranking!"

"Thank you." Inui nodded at her and then he smiled at their coach's granddaughter. Sakuno blushed and smiled back.

"Is there something I can do for you, Sadaharu-san?" Agano prompted.

"Nothing, really. I though I stay here, if you don't think it's a problem."

"Don't you have a game later, sempai?" Tomoko asked, eyes wide.

Inui regarded her gently and answered. "I have to record data on the other matches first before mine starts. Besides, I have it all figured out. You shouldn't worry about me. You should direct all your attention to Echizen. After all, you came for him, did you—"

And on cue, Tomoko screamed, "RYOMA-SAMA!"

Sakuno was tugging at her friend's arm, begging her to lower her voice. She was blushing hard and Inui always found these two girls' routine intriguing. But anyway, he ignored the distractions and focused his gaze on the student-teacher. Agano crossed her arms in front of her as she watched Echizen enter the court. She kept her eyes fixed on the spectacle unfolding before them. Inui should probably do the same thing too but he couldn't keep his eyes off her even for a second. So he started talking to her. "Don't you have classes, sempai?"

"No, I've wrapped up things an hour ago." Agano glanced at him slightly before she looked back at the court. "Besides, I've been excited about this Intra-school ranking anyway. I know you are."

"Yes." Inui replied, pushing the glasses from the bridge of his nose. "I admit that I was quite shocked that this day had come already. I believe it will, hopefully, but not sooner than I thought."

"You're welcome, Sadaharu-kun." Agano fanned herself with her hand and sighed. "It took some effort but the boy finally yielded and granted you a match with him."

Inui nodded. "Do you want some refreshments, perhaps?" he asked.

"You mean your juice?" Agano chuckled, eyes glued to Echizen completely. "That's a joke made in poor taste, you know."

Inui decided to engage all his senses to the current match in hand but there was nothing interesting to it. Echizen kept his pace in a steady beat; going for the win without missing his game. The kid was growing with potential that even Inui has yet to properly record in data. Everybody else knew that Echizen is meant for great things. Tomoko and Sakuno and Horio and the other freshies know. Tezuka knows more than anybody else. And hell, he can bet even Agano, who barely showed any real interest in tennis, knows there is something special about her student.

"Promising, is he not?" Fuji approached from a corner. He nodded at the student-teacher as a greeting and she smiled warmly at him.

"It's nothing like I've ever seen before." Agano remarked. "I've watched plenty of action here in your court and you regular players maintain their skills but there is something else about Ryoma-san that I can't put my finger on."

Inui listened to this conversation as it went further while his eyes remained on the court. Fuji asked, "do you like tennis yourself, sensei?"

Agano didn't answer that but instead she said, "I'm only killing time. Nothing else is left for me to do after my work in class is through. So I come here in your grounds and watch you kids play. It's quite inspiring."

"Indeed." Fuji smiled wider. He addressed Inui this time. "I've seen Oishi's copy of the matches earlier before they were posted, by the way. You must be wired for this all your life, am I right, Inui?"

"I wonder," Inui answered vaguely. Echizen's match ended on his terms fifteen minutes after it had began. Agano caught the freshman's eye and waved at him and her student simply touched his cap and lowered his head as acknowledgment.

"You should definitely come here often, sensei." Fuji suggested welcomingly.

"I intend to." Agano looked at him. And then she turned to Inui and asked. "You've prepared well, have you not?"

Inui certainly had and he only responded with a smirk. He adjusted his glasses and read his notes one last time.

"Momoshiro-kun! Kaidoh-chan!" Agano called at the two sophomore athletes noticeably arguing in the corner. They were both startled and looked at her. Momoshiro waved as Kaidoh simply made hissing noises. Both of them approached without being told. She watched them for a while and Inui wondered if she wanted to say something to them.

"That was a pretty good game you had there, Kaidoh-chan, Momoshiro-kun."

"Heh!" Momoshiro raised his arms up and placed them behind his head. "I only do what had to be done. But there's still one last opponent to beat."

"You should take this seriously, you idiot!" Kaidoh shot dagger-sharp glares at him. "You're going to play Inui-sempai next, you hear me?"

"Who are you talk to me like you're supposed to be the boss of me, viper?"

Agano blinked at the argument before her, lips pursed into a contemplative smile. Inui's eyes were on her again and this has happened lately ever since he was around her often. She noticed him looking after a while and she held his gaze. Something hostile surfaced in her eyes but only for a second. She was smiling at him.

"Sempai, will you see all the matches through?" he asked her as he closed his notebook.

"I always finish what I start." Agano answered, watching both Momoshiro and Kaidoh finish their quibble and walk to their respective corners.

Fuji looks like he wants to be part of the conversation for he interjected. "Well, I'm glad you enjoy this experience. Tennis breeds healthy competition and camaraderie."

"I can see that this gives Syusuke-san an opportunity to express his talented self," Agano complimented the prodigy. "And I suppose you want to acquire much more than you already have. This is a sport, after all. Sports are all about winning."

"True." Fuji looked off in a distance. "But winning hardly matters to me sometimes."

Agano watched him carefully and Inui watched her watching Fuji. For the longest moment, none of them said anything.

Echizen was walking to their direction with Tomoko babbling about his awesomeness and Sakuno trailing behind. He greeted Agano and asked if she wants him to get her a Ponta. She accepted the generosity and he left to get some.

"You favor Ponta as a drink, sempai?" Inui had to ask. The information might be irrelevant but it was intriguing.

"Echizen has introduced me to it a few days ago." Agano answered. "And it's nothing like your juice, Sadaharu-kun, which I consider to be a darn good thing."

"Ah," Fuji opened his eyes to peer at the two of them. "The Inui juice rejuvenates me. It's quite a replenishing concoction."

Horio and his two friends winced when they overheard this. Inui laughed.

"Well, clearly, Syusuke-san, we differ with our definitions of 'replenishing,' if I may be bold to say so." Agano said.

The matches come and go as the hour passed. Inui didn't bother checking his watch as he wrote down the facts and final results of each match in his notebook. He was not surprised that Tezuka has no losses and that Momoshiro's place as a regular seems to have slipped (might be partially his doing when he was claimed victor in that match). He wondered where he went though since Kaidoh seems bothered (even though he won't admit expressing concerns for his rival). Ryuuzaki-sensei is calling the last players in the court. Inui pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose once more and asked Agano to hold his notebook for him.

"Go, Inui!" Kikumaru cheered.

Inui was walking to his side of the court, eyes on Tezuka the whole time. The captain was twisting the racket on his hand, examining his grip. The expression on his face was unclear but as he looked at Inui from where he stood, it seems that they both knew that this game meant something else and it was written on their faces.

It began somehow and both players were thriving with serious energy that there is no saying who might win. The crowd gathered around them, fascinated and nervous.

The match produced an overcrowded tension and Inui wasn't sure if he was even breathing but his focus was in its sharpest and that alone made him exert his efforts to a higher scale. Tezuka was no fool, never will be, and so the other megane had to find creative ways to force his cards out of him, if that's what it takes.

_I'm winning this one, Tezuka. _Inui muttered as he exchanged a singular blow towards the captain. _I have sufficient data on you._

He aced it when he got one point from Tezuka which the crowd took as a bona fide miracle, for starters. Inui wasn't joking at all, they realized.

Even with that calculated attack, the captain still looked like he was meditating but his eyes lightened up with some kind of spirit which Inui knows can burn beneath the surface of that apathetic bravado of his. Tezuka glanced at him from the opposite side of the court, his face still an emotionless cement-block. But there was indeed fire in his eyes as he took a tighter grip on his racket, ready to strike Inui out of the momentum of his game. The other megane accepted the terms with benevolence only present to an athlete who finds the game more than just an easy catch.

They started again with another rally. Tezuka was getting aggressive now but even with an aggression, he maintains a cool head. Inui admired that strength of will from him but even though he was always swept away with that quality, he was nevertheless determined to destroy it. He predicted Tezuka's next move; that drop shot, his trump card. He took a step to reach the goal and his legs felt the desperation and they moved to his accord.

He returned the ball and the crowd growled in amazement.

"Are you aware, Tezuka, that the probability of using your signature drop shot was ninety-two percent?" He asked the captain calmly.

Tezuka's forehead was starting to sweat but his features remained immobile, cold. "Not only did you analyze the data...but it looks like you polished one thing, Sadaharu."

"I feel like aiming higher." Inui managed a small smile. He heard Kaidoh in the corner, saying something about Inui doubling his training regimen. He responded to that by saying that it was 2.25 times more to be exact. Coach Ryuuzaki added that Inui worked on his body too. Back then he was only able to predict the shot his opponents make but he lacks the sprinting capacity and the ability to return them.

Today it was different.

Another seven minutes and it was three-games-all.

"Data doesn't lie." Inui told Tezuka. And they moved forward.

As the game progresses into Inui's favor, he told Tezuka. "Do you know that whenever you hit a drop shot, your racket head drops 3.2 mm?"

The crowd questioned his presumptions but they were constantly validated throughout the game until they were all convinced that his style of tennis really is flawless.

Inui could hear Coach Ryuuzaki telling them. "Hard work and determination often surpass skills."

5-4, Inui leads.

_Watch me, Agano-sempai, _Inui thought, searching her momentarily in the crowd. _I'm going to prove that philosophy today._

"Is Tezuka-buchou going to lose?" one of the freshmen asked aloud.

Inui was consumed with his own drive that out of nowhere, Tezuka did something his eye barely caught and the ball entered inside his court and he wasn't even able to raise his racket (or move at all). There was a silence engulfing the air and Oishi shouted out what everyone was asking in their minds, "What was _that_, Tezuka?"

_I want to know myself,_ Inui wiped the sweat on his forehead as he watched Tezuka return to the farthest side of his court.

"Come, Inui." The captain declared. "The match isn't over. Let's keep going."

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Iku Agano crossed her legs from under the table, no less, as Inui figured because she does look like the kind of woman who does that often.

"It was very generous of you, Sadaharu."

"I don't mind. I like taking you to dinner." Inui responded. "Been liking it for twice the occasion now."

"I wasn't talking about food, Sadaharu, I was talking about the match earlier."

"Oh, that." Inui smirked, slicing his beef steak with careful ease. "That was the most exciting time of my life in all my years of playing tennis."

"Why do I get the distinct impression that it was not an exaggeration when you said that?" Agano wiped her mouth with her napkin.

"Because you're intuitive for a woman your age?"

"A woman my age?" Agano raised her glass slightly and paused before she drank it. "I don't want to think what you're even implying."

"I'm just a fifteen-year old boy who doesn't keep his mouth shut. I appeared very rude there." Inui corrected himself.

"Don't be sarcastic." Agano tapped her fingernails on the table. "I wouldn't have dined with you if you were indeed a waste of my time. Besides, the reason why we're even together inside this restaurant and no one has yet to bother us with questions is because you don't look _your_ age at all."

"Well, yes, that may be true." Inui chewed his food first before he replied again. "And we could safely assume that there won't be anybody in Seishun Gakuen here to recognize us."

"It would complicate matters." Agano remarked. "I couldn't imagine myself having an answer as to why I'm dining with a student in such a fancy place, let alone let him pay for it."

"It raises interesting conjectures, if you ask me."

"And many of which we will find very disagreeable, not to mention inappropriate." Agano leaned against the back of her chair, sighing. "And one that would probably cost me my position."

Inui smiled. "Then we should try to keep everything low-key, so not to upset the order of convention."

"We're getting by, I think." Agano raised her glass. "A toast to that?"

Inui poured his champagne glass with Inui juice. "You know, sempai, since I don't even look my age as you've kindly pointed out, I should—"

"Don't even dream that I'd allow a minor be served alcohol on my watch. I'd sooner drop you off to your house if that happens."

"My parents are barely home this month." Inui said. "My invitation stands."

They clattered their glasses together. Agano replied. "No, no, you know that's where I draw the line. I couldn't imagine the prospects of being alone with you in your house."

"We can ask Kaidoh and the cat come by again."

"And inconvenience such a fine young lad like Kaidoh-chan?"

"He'll get over it." Inui pressed on.

"I told you I don't think that would be advisable." Agano added. "Besides, you're interested in having conversations with me and we're doing well with those here on a public place, a restaurant where good company and food coincide."

"All right then," Inui gave up. "I don't want you to think I'm being incorrigible."

"I think a lot about you these days." She watched the contents of her glass sway.

"I'm honored I occupy your interests."

"You and Tezuka are quite the catalysts." Agano looked off to the other table.

"I'm afraid you've lost me on your sentiment."

"I'm simply saying that a woman my age, ripe with experiences but still young and bored, is just glad to have some change of pace in her lifestyle."

"I'm also glad that I offer you comfort." Inui placed his hand on hers. She looked at that and then she looked at his face. She was not smiling.

"Sadaharu, in addition to not looking like your age, you certainly act above it as well." She didn't pull her hand away.

"Tezuka's best interests are in your heart, are they not?"

"I don't know how to respond to that, sorry." Agano blinked.

"You granted my request and made it happen. I suppose you care about me but your concern for Tezuka is far greater." Inui withdrew his hand. "I just conclude that you desire for him in some other way that I don't even want to name just yet."

"You analyze too much and yet your results take a curve. How does it feel when, even in your prime, Tezuka still snatched your light?"

Inui pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "A simple setback; I could claim it when I polish my data to other degrees of exactitude."

"Admirable," Agano smiled at last, "your convictions..."

They headed out by six-thirty. The rain was only a compliant drizzle but Inui figured that the lady he is accompanying still needs an umbrella on her head. They crossed several streets until they bumped into Fuji.

"Sensei? Inui?" the tensai didn't care to hide his shock which he recovered from easily to give way to a smile.

Inui wondered if he should make excuses for this but Agano beat him to it. "I was out celebrating with some friends from my old university. The weather got questionable and Sadaharu-san and I run into each other along the way and he offered me assistance."

"That's quite lucky." Fuji smiled wider. "But that's a very nice suit you're wearing, Inui and not exactly everyday clothing. Where you also attending a party when you run into Agano-sensei?"

"Oh, Sadaharu-san was just telling me that," Agano chuckled with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Today is his birthday."

Fuji's smile was intact. "Dear me, I'm sorry. Happy birthday, Inui!"

"Thank you." Inui nodded his head awkwardly. He's not usually bashful but mentioning that when he firmly pointed out to Agano that he didn't want anybody in school knowing it's his birthday was very incredibly unnerving for him. He managed to respond in a robotic tone. "I feel the warmth of your greeting. I'm very pleased."

It was Fuji's turn to chuckle, either he could read the hostility or his amusement is genuine. "All right then. Do you mind if I join you? Consider it as a consolation for not getting you any present."

"I'm not a big gift-receiver, anyway." Inui remarked.

"Don't let that stop you, Syusuke-san." Agano patted Inui's shoulder and then she took the umbrella from him. "Sadly, boys, I have to go and finish up checking school papers. I'm sure Syusuke-san feels the compulsion to make up for not knowing how special this day is for you Sadaharu-san. I'll return your umbrella tomorrow."

And just like that, she was walking away.

Fuji turned to Inui. "Did I say 'compulsion'? I'm pretty sure I said 'consolation'. Or was I—"

"No, you said consolation." Inui buried his hands on his pockets.

"We shouldn't stand on ceremony. The rain might get worse."

Inui glanced at the book his teammate was holding. It was some kind of novel. He pointed at it and asked.

"Tezuka lent it to me." Fuji showed it.

_The Picture of Dorian Gray_ by Oscar Wilde.

"Literature is very commendable for people our age." Inui stared at the book for a long time even when Fuji tucked it under his arm.

"Indeed." Fuji said. "I'm actually enjoying this particular book myself."

"What's it about?"

"Do you really want to know or are you just avoiding the prospect that I would go ga-ga on you about your birthday and insist that I must buy you a gift from a selected toy store that I know?"

"Um, well, not exactly."

"That's _exactly_ what I'm going to do."

Inui paused, contemplating a strategic and perhaps a more civil way to refuse this generosity without making it sound whiny. But because of the pressure of time, he thought on his feet and he said, "Fuji, that's not necessary—"

"Don't go telling me it's not necessary. It's a birthday's oldest tradition and probably the only reason why people celebrate birthdays in the first place."

"You mean besides acknowledging you exist and how grateful you are for it?"

"Yes, pretty much." Fuji tapped his arm. "Now the store won't come to us, you know, so let's go to it!" Another cryptic smile.

Inui weakly smirked but he didn't sign up to this but he was getting dragged to whatever store Fuji had in mind anyway so...

Another detail in his TEZUGANO notebook will be written later tonight, add _Must buy the Oscar Wilde book_ to his to-do list and he's good to go.

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